


War of Cinders

by Ocaj



Series: Heart of a Dragon series [3]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Rayllum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 62,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27738313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ocaj/pseuds/Ocaj
Summary: With the second attack on the Storm Spire defeated, Xadia strikes back, attacking the human kingdoms and besieging Katolis Castle. Rayla, Callum and Ezran all find themselves on different sides of the conflict. After all that has happened, can they still work together to save the world from this destructive war?
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Heart of a Dragon series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624210
Comments: 70
Kudos: 58





	1. A word from the author

**Dear readers,**

**This story will be my version of what I imagine season 6 of “the Dragon Prince” would look like. At the time of writing, we’ve only had three seasons, and I’ve written seasons 4 and 5 as a fanfiction, titled “Heart of a Dragon” and “Eye of the Storm” respectively. If you are new here, I suggest you go read those first, as this story heavily builds upon what I’ve written there.**

**For those that have read the other two works of fanfics; thank you for sticking with me this far! It is still a passion project for me. Once I’ve finished all four projects, I will probably get them printed in book form for me personally to have in my bookcase. It’s just a matter of pride and accomplishment really. I’ve always wanted to write my own books. Though these fanfics are not completely original (I’m working in someone else’s fictional universe after all) I still see it as an accomplishment to write two pocket-sized novels in the span of a year. I just hope I can do the same with my own original ideas once I’ve finished this project.**

**It’s almost exactly a year ago that I posted “Heart of a Dragon” online and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. At the same time it has also been a very educational year for me to see what works for me when writing fiction and what doesn’t. Keeping a schedule with deadlines worked very well with “Heart of a Dragon”, but the pandemic threw a wrench in my schedule for “Eye of the Storm”. We’re still in the middle of the pandemic but at the same time I have had some time to adjust, and I do think it’s high time to continue working on this project. To make sure I will succeed, I will use the same rules as last time:**

**\- The Dragon Prince has nine episodes a season, so I will have to write nine chapters for this adventure**

**\- I will post one chapter a week**

**\- Including the “Author’s Note”, this will give me ten weeks to complete this project.**

**Without further ado, I present you “War of Cinders”. Enjoy!**

**Jaco “Ocaj” Koster**


	2. Awakening

The capital city of Katolis was deserted. Houses had been burned down or had collapsed underneath the violence of the Xadian army. Destruction could be seen everywhere. The once so lush forests surrounding the city and castle had been turned to cinders, and the ground was blackened with ash. 

But the castle still stood, proud and defiant. The initial assaults were only meant to test the enemies defences after all. The real strength of the castle walls was still untested against the might of Xadia. The Xadian army had set up camp a few miles away on a large hillside. There, they could overlook the city and Katolis castle from a distance. 

Rayla was watching the city and castle now, from atop one of the wooden watchtowers. She glared at it. She hated the sight of it, hated what it meant to her. A reminder of her failure to secure peace. A reminder of a failed love. It was the home to Callum, the killer of elves. The second person in her life she had killed. 

Looking at the castle for too long was too painful for her. Too many bad memories resurfaced. So, instead, she looked to the other side, to the great army’s encampment. The camp was large, the army numbering in the tens of thousands. After the second attack on the storm spire, the dragonmoot had united behind king Aureum Umbra. Within a week, an army was mustered. There was no shortage of elves willing to fight for their king and country, especially not after news had spread of how the dark mages, and the prince of Katolis specifically had used dark magic to kill some of Xadia’s greatest warriors. 

Rayla closed her eyes from pain as her thoughts once again turned to Callum. It had a month since the attack, but it still haunted her in her dreams. The corrupted face of Callum, and the sound her swords made as they pierced through his body… it was the stuff of nightmares. 

She tried to shake the thoughts away, looking once more at the castle. _Focus, girl, damnit! You’re here on a job!_ She was on the lookout for something specific. And then she saw it. A tiny blip of silver and black, carrying a white flag. 

She immediately sprung into action and jumped down the watchtower, leaping from one wooden beam unto the other until she hit the ground. She ran up the hill towards where the king and the generals had gathered. Elves that she passed looked up in surprise and saluted her. She heard them mutter; “Rayla of Xadia”. Suppressing a groan, she rushed on. Ever since they rescued the dragon prince, she had earned the title “of Xadia”, meaning that she was an esteemed heroin of Xadia. But back then it hadn’t really had an impact on her as she didn’t venture out of the Storm Spire a lot. Now that she was with the army though, she noticed how much the other elves looked up to her. The young moonshadow assassin who rescued the dragon prince, the same one who killed two dark mages within the span of a year! She caught soldiers staring at her in amazement and heard them whisper exaggerated stories of her deeds at the campfire.

Oh, how she hated it. 

It was a constant reminder of her adventures with Callum and how she had to kill him in the end. She had grown bitter and withdrawn in these past weeks, trying to shove away all those feelings and memories deep inside of her. Needless to say these times were very tough for Rayla. 

But the king had accepted her back in the ranks of the dragonguard as thanks for killing Callum and doing her part in defending them. The dragonguard was leaderless now, it’s force divided between the Storm Spire to protect the queen and prince, and the front where the king was present. Rayla and Orris were both representing the dragonguard at the front, with Catlyn, Pincaelo and Kiyara staying behind and working on bolstering the defences there. 

As she crested the hill she came to the spot where the generals had gathered, with the dragonking resting behind them, taking note of all the proceedings. The guards that surrounded the meeting place let her pass without issue. As she joined the group of generals, she proceeded to deliver the news, only to be shushed away by the generals discussing the siege.

“Lords, there is a-”

“Later, dragonguard, can’t you see that we’re in a meeting?” A noble, uptight looking skywing elf sneered at her, before turning back to the others. “As I was saying, the only reason we’re currently camping here, and not attacking the walls right now, is because of a lack of support from the dragons.”

“That is an insult!” A female sunfire elf replied angrily. “You know as well as I do that they’ve placed ballistas on every wall and tower of that damned castle. Many dragons would lose their lives!” 

“Well, it seems we’re stuck then.” A giant, aimable looking earthblood elf said to them. “But we can’t maintain this siege here for too long. In a few weeks, the troops will go hungry. In a month, they will be starving. We have pushed through Katolis too fast. Our best hope is to negotiate while we still hold the upper hand.”

“Negotiate!? We will never negotiate with those animals!”

“Besides, they won’t talk with us either!”

“Well, without a negotiator to work with-”

“PLEASE EXCUSE ME!?” All eyes turned to Rayla, annoyed with the intrusion. She had quite enough of waiting around. “A Katolis soldier is approachin’ under a white flag. Maybe they want to...oh, I don’t know...negotiate?” She tapped her chin thoughtfully while grinning at the bunch.

“Well why didn’t you say so right away dragonguard?!” The uptight skywing general said. “Lead him to us!”

-/-/-/-

Soren walked through the ranks of elven warriors holding the flag pole up high, the white flag swaying gently in the wind. The elves sneered at him, but let him be. He kept on muttering to himself as he walked up the hill. 

“Come on Soren, you can do this. All you have to do is walk up that stupid hill without killing those stupid elves who want this stupid war.” He was in an uncharacteristically dark mood. Back in the day, he just fought and killed elves because he was told to, but ever since Callum’s death he absolutely hated them. 

The dragon king was looming up ahead. As Soren got nearer, he could spot a lot of important elves sitting on chairs in front of them. _Just look at them. If only I was allowed to bring my sword…_ Alas, Soren had strict orders to relay a message and bring the dragon king’s reply back to king Ezran. Despite hating the assignment, Soren was smart enough to understand why they sent him; he was a high-ranking soldier who had also fought at the Battle of the Storm Spire, defending the dragon prince and the sleeping queen Zubeia. _They hope that if I bring the message, they might actually listen. Or, maybe they just hope that because I fought at their side once, they will not kill me here on the spot._

As Soren took his position opposite the elven council, he suddenly recognized one of the dragonguards, standing in front of the dragonking. The silver haired dragonguard looked surprised as Soren waved at her. “Hey little elf girl!” 

Rayla scowled at him. “It’s Rayla!” She hissed. “And be quiet! Yer supposed to deliver a message, right?”

The dragonking cleared his throat, demanding the messenger’s attention. “Greetings. What message does the king of Katolis have for us?” 

“Oh, eh, I don’t know actually, but he wrote it down on this paper thing.” Soren took out a scroll from his pouch, sealed with wax and stamped with the Katolis seal of the uneven towers. “So, should I give it to you? Or read it out? Or….?” Soren held out the scroll towards the dragonking rather awkwardly. The scroll looked comically tiny compared to the gargantuan dragon claws. 

An elven general coughed and walked up to Soren. “Just give it to me, human.” He sounded rather chagrined by the whole ordeal. The general opened the scroll and read it out to all the people gathered there. “To the dragon king and his council…” 

“That’s YOU!” Soren said, as he did a pose, pointing his fingers towards the giant dragon. Everyone just stared at him for a bit before turning back to the general.

“Right…” He muttered. “Where was I… Ah, yes… I besiege the king of Xadia to halt this senseless and unprovoked war. We had a time of peace. We can yet return to it. But, be warned. Though you have brought your army to our capital city, this is where we draw the line. Here, but no further. Should you attack, we will retaliate. I sincerely hope that you make the right decision and will choose peace. Signed, King Ezran, ruler of Katolis. “

The general looked up to the king. “What will our reply be, sire?”

The dragon king thought for a moment. “I want to consider my reply carefully. Let us discuss what would be wise.” His eyes swiveled to Soren. “Though, preferably in private.”

Soren looked around. “Oh, wait, you’re talking about me?” 

The dragon king sighed. _How could Katolis still stand if they employed such fools!_ “I will have one of the dragonguard escort you to our messhall. You can refresh yourself there. Rayla, please take care of our guest.” Without giving Soren a second glance, the king turned to the generals to discuss their reply. 

Rayla moved quickly towards Soren and grabbed him by the arm, moving him in the direction of the mess hall. She didn’t say anything and avoided his gaze as she did so. This confused Soren thoroughly.

“Whoa, what’s with the hurry? I’m sure the food won’t run away you know! I mean, unless it’s still alive, but you elves are not that barbaric, right?” His jovial tone fell on deaf ears however. Though Rayla didn’t look at him, Soren could see that her face was in a constant frown. 

They entered the mess hall, a giant tent where the food was served. Rayla got Soren a cup of wine and handed it to him, again without making eye contact. Soren took the wine, sniffed it, and wrinkled his nose. 

“Do I _have_ to drink it?¨ 

Rayla just shrugged and downed hers in one go. 

Soren raised his eyebrows shot up at that. “Do they allow you to drink while on duty?”

She gave him a sidelong dark look. A raspy voice answered him. “Why do you care?” She was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped back instinctively. 

“Rayla… are you alright?” The young human looked surprisingly honest with his concern. 

His concern and friendly demeanor was what put her off. She hissed at him. “Why are you talkin’ to me? We’re at war. I-I killed Callum. Don’t you hate me?” She looked confused, and maybe a little frightened. 

This gave Soren pause. He opened his mouth to say something, but it seemed that he couldn’t find the right words immediately, like she had struck a sensitive cord. 

Rayla blinked, and put her hands on her hips. “Well?” 

Soren hesitated, but finally found the words to answer her question. “Rayla, I want to be mad… I was mad for a time when Ezran told me what happened... but I know you wouldn’t have done it if he wasn’t really evil. So, what I am trying to say is… you did the right thing.”

This time, Rayla opened her mouth several times, but no words came out. “...what?”

Soren persisted and took her by the shoulders. She let him this time. “Rayla, it’s not your fault. Callum...wasn’t himself.”

Rayla had her lips firmly pressed together. She thought of Bosor’s last words. _Not. his. Fault_. She had suspected some kind of spell was placed on Callum, but she couldn’t be sure. _There’s no way to be sure._ She pushed the thought out of her mind, like she had been doing for the last couple of weeks. “Whatever happened, happened Soren. Callum is dead. We are at war. What more is there to say?”

A chime sounded. Soren had no idea what it meant, but he saw Rayla perk up and gesture to follow her. He figured that the dragon king had his reply ready. As he hurried after her, he quickly spoke to her in hushed tones. “Rayla, please don’t attack us. We’d kill you, and I don’t want that.”

Rayla scoffed. “Oh really? Did you forget that we were able to march all the way through your country, practically unopposed? Your soldiers are scared of fighting the Xadias. You don’t stand a chance.” 

“Do you really think that’s why you got so far? King Ezran did everything to make peace with you. He evacuated everyone before you could get to them and lured you deeper into our territory.” He grabbed her arm and twisted her towards him. 

The movement caused several guards to draw their swords, but Rayla quickly held out her hand, gesturing to them that it was alright. “What are you playin’ at?” She hissed. “Are you tryin’ to make me afraid of you or somethin’?”

“No! I mean, yes. I mean… maybe? Look, the point is, you are deep in enemy territory, far away from any reïnforcements.” Soren looked conflicted. “I… can’t tell you what is going to happen if you attack. But if you do, know that Ezran really meant it when he said he’d draw the line. It won’t be pretty.” 

Rayla saw that Soren was honest. She was even slightly touched that he still cared for her, enough to want her to live through this. But that made it hard for her to hate him, to hate every human like she had been trying to for weeks now. “Thanks Soren. I can see you care.” 

Soren gave her a weak smile.

“When the time comes, I hope I won’t have to fight you. Now come, the king must be gettin’ impatient.” 

The both of them walked on and reached the top of the hill, where all the generals had taken their seats again. The dragon king cast an ominous shadow over the gathering. As the king spoke, his voice was menacing. “Listen well messenger and carry my words to your king. This is Xadia’s reply.”

-/-/-/-

The small room in the tower was stunned to silence, though a few crickets had somehow made their way inside. Soren stood awkwardly in the middle of the temporary throne room. The real one was needed to house all the refugees, so they opted to use one of the towers for official state business. General Amaya and Corvus were present, as was Opili, who stood next to the king. King Ezran was shocked. He just kept looking at Soren, his mouth hanging open. Eventually, he seemed to recover.

“THAT’s what the dragon king said!?” 

Soren rubbed the back of his head. “Well, yeah, sort of?”

“Did you relay the message exactly as it was told?” Opili interjected. “Word for word?”

The royal guardsman looked annoyed. “I wouldn’t be a very good messenger if I didn’t do that, would I? Anyway, they wrote it down for me, so…” Soren produced a scroll from his pouch and handed it to Opili, who immediately broke the seal and started reading. 

“....he’s not wrong.” Opili said in worried tones as she handed Ezran the scroll, but the king ignored it, instead sliding off the throne and started pacing the room.

“”Destroy the entire city”? “Annihilate all the humans!?” What kind of dragon is he!?” The young king exclaimed. “Has he become some kind of monster?”

“Well, he’s already a pretty big monster if you ask me.” Soren replied. “I think he has just gotten meaner.” 

Ezran groaned, pushing his palms against his head.

“Sire, don’t worry. Katolis Castle hasn’t fallen ever since your family took it hundreds of years ago!” Opili tried to placate the young king. 

General Amaya joined in, gesturing enthusiastically. -We’ve placed ballistas on every tower and we’ve even employed the soldiers that Viren has cursed. Should the dragon attack, we are well equipped to defend ourselves-

“You only have to hold out until Duren’s army arrives.” Corvus added. “Just like the original plan was. We lure them here, and then squash them between our two forces.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about!” Ezran said harshly. “Sure, this siege will keep them occupied until Duren attacks them in the back, but that will still kill so many soldiers! On both sides!” He sat down on the floor. Soren reflected that he had never seen Ezran look so tired before. “Peace will be even further away than before.”

Opili kneeled down next to the king, just as Bait nudged up against him, trying to comfort his young human friend.

“My liege, you said it yourself. This is war. There may not be a miraculous solution to this problem. The dragon king was attacked by prince Callum no less. As long as the king is alive, he will hold that grudge against you.” 

Ezran shook his head and stood up, walking towards the door.

“My liege… what about the message?”

“Leave it for now. I’ve got to think.” Ezran said, without looking back, slamming the door shut behind him. 

The tower room was silent. Everyone was thinking about the war and the impact it had on not only Katolis, but the young king as well. 

Well, everyone except for Soren. “So, anyone hungry?”

-/-/-/-

There was light. It hurt. It hurt a lot. 

Callum groaned as he tossed about, trying to wake up. “Urgh! W-what...what is-?!”

“Careful, prince Callum. Save your strength. You’ve been through a lot.”

Callum only saw stars and blotches of light swimming in his vision. A dark shape sat next to him, but he couldn’t focus. _Who is it?_ The voice was deep and soothing. Kind even, and familiar. But as his vision cleared and looked at the black/greyish figure next to him, he realised why the voice was familiar. “Lord Viren!”

Viren made a placating gesture when Callum tried to get up and roll away from him. “No! Callum, take it easy! You’ve been through a lot! More than most I’d say…”

Callum rubbed his eyes till the spots were gone. He blinked a couple of times. He felt the hurt in his chest, but it was bearable and he could ignore it for the time being. He looked at his hands and saw them coming back to focus. He was startled however as he saw that grey, cracked skin covered his hands. “What happened to my hands!?”

“Ah...that...would be a consequence of your actions.” 

“My actions!?” He whipped around to face Viren and was startled again as he saw the man having the same grey, cracked skin. Viren’s face looked old and weathered, like it was supposed to be dead yet somehow still alive. The man didn’t look at all like the man that had been by his step-fathers side all those years. Yet, somehow, this man in front of him right now looked less arrogant and more remorseful. 

“Why are you here Viren? And where am I? Where’s Rayla? Where’s Ezran?” Callum tried to come up with answers to his own questions, but his mind only gave glimpses of memories, of swords and dragons and dark magic. 

“Callum. Easy. I will explain if you will let me.” Viren made no further movement. He still sat upon the chair next to his bed, and was watching him patient;y.

Callm looked around. The room was small and scarcely furnitured. There was the bed he lay in, a desk, a chair and a closet. He saw the light of the sun coming in through an open window. It felt hot, like they were in a warmer climate. “Alright. I’ll listen.” 

“Good. This...may come as a shock to you Callum, but you died.”

“I what!?”

“You were dead for some time. Claudia resurrected you, as she did to me once.”

“Wow…” Callum tried to get his thoughts in order. He remembered...something. Flashes of light. He thought he saw something important, but he couldn’t get his head to clear up. There were too many thoughts right now. “How long was I gone.” 

“If you mean how long you were dead, well, I do not know, sorry to say. I only got here a couple of days ago. All I know is that Claudia’s attack at the Storm Spire happened a month ago and that you’ve been comatose ever since.” 

“A month!?” To Callum it seemed like everything Viren was telling him was a new shock he had to process. “Wh-why was I out so long!?”

Viren shrugged. “I cannot answer that. Perhaps the spell affected you differently than it did me. Or perhaps Claudia cast a sleeping spell on you to keep you docile. In any case, I’ve been watching over you for the last couple of days. This is the first time you’ve awoken.”

Callum frowned and kept looking at his hands, turning them this way and that as if seeing them for the first time. 

Viren had an inclin of what the boy was going through and tried to give Callum time to cope with it. “What can you remember?”

“I remember...the Storm Spire? I think? There was fighting… I can see Ibis falling, a-and fighting between human mages and the dragonguard… and Rayla! Rayla...she put her sword against my neck!” His hands flew to his own neck to check for marks. There weren’t any, but the skin didn’t feel like his own. He moved to get out of bed, but Viren tried to warn him against it. 

“Callum...please, take it easy.”

“I’ve got to check something. Is there a mirror somewhere?”

Viren sighed. _There’s no stopping that boy…_ “There’s a mirror in the closet.” 

Callum stumbled out of bed and opened the closet doors. There was indeed a mirror stuck to the inside of one of the doors. Callum opened it all the way and gasped as he saw his reflection. His skin had turned grey and his hair had white streaks through them. The white of his eyes had turned an unhealthy yellow colour and looked dull, less clear. _Oh no..._ he thought. _I look just like I did in my vision!_ He turned around, panic in his eyes. “Viren, what happened to me?”

“I can’t be sure.” He said as he got up and walked to the window. Viren had thought of comforting Callum. He hadn’t seen the boy this lost since the day he fled the castle. They had been on opposing sides since then, but much has changed in the meantime. He decided that the best way he could help Callum was to give him an honest account of the attack. “From what I’ve pieced together from listing to Claudia and incoming reports, Claudia abducted you and charmed you with a spell. You were given a mission; to learn dark magic and use it to complete an ancient spell to create a powerful primal stone. From just looking at you, I can say that in those few weeks you were under her spell you cast more dark magic spells than most mages I know have cast in their life. With Aaravos supplying the cult with ingredients, you didn’t have to worry about running out of any. This has the side effect of severely corrupting your body. It is so severe that even the resurrection spell hasn’t gotten rid of some of it.”

“Well, how do _I_ get rid of it!?” 

“Well, there are spells with which you can cast a glamour on yourself to hide the effect.”

“That’s not what I meant! How do I get rid of the corruption!?” 

Viren looked at Callum. The young man seemed on the verge of panic, desperate to get his old life back. Viren sighed. _He’ll have to learn that life can be incredibly unfair at times… It’s a shame he has to learn that through me._ “You can’t Callum. This is how you will look until the day you die.” 

“No...no this can’t be…. I _swore_ never to use dark magic again…” Callum was pacing the room, clawing at his hair. 

Viren quickly moved over to the boy and grabbed him by his wrists. “Don’t do that. You will hurt yourself. Look, you’ve only just woken up. Claudia is on a mission and she took Aaravos with her. That means it’s just you and me in this temple now, and I don’t mean you any harm.” 

A doubtful gaze told Viren exactly how much of that Callum believed. “You hurt me in the past. You took my voice!” 

“That was because you were an obnoxious little… Never mind. Run away for all I care. But if you rest now, and think things through, then I promise I will try to help you tomorrow.” With that, Viren stood up and walked to the door. 

Exhausted, Callum sat himself on the edge of the bed. Before Viren opened the door though, he asked a question. “Why help me now?”

Viren stopped but didn’t turn around. “Because… she won’t listen to me anymore. And this war isn’t going to win itself.” And with that, he was gone. 

Callum fell backwards and stared at the ceiling. He tried to collect his thoughts, but there were too many of them. And all of them were spiraling around that silver haired elven girl that had stabbed him through the heart. “Rayla….” 

-/-/-/-

The talks lasted deep into the night. The elven generals had a heated argument about how to break the siege, with king Aureum Umbra only interjecting sporadically. He commanded the dragons, but not the ground forces. Rayla suspected that the dragon king left this to the elven generals on purpose, like he wouldn’t know how to deploy those troops properly. 

She yawned. It had been a long night. She longed to go to sleep, to go unconscious for a few hours, an escape from this world. But she was a dragonguard and that meant that she had to be wherever the king was. Orris would take over once the meetings were done, but that could take an hour or more at the least. Sighing, she resigned herself to her current disposition. She tried to pay attention to the meeting, but memories kept diverting her attention. They were talking about taking the castle, and she was reminded about how she had scaled those walls by herself, of how she had met Callum and Ezran. She even fought Runaan, trying to convince him that her way was better. That her way would end the war. In the end, it only made room for another one. One that very soon could turn out to be much more destructive. She put her hand against her side, on the spot where the pouch with the coins would be. “I’m sorry…” she whispered, hoping that one day Runaan could forgive her for her actions, though she doubted it. 

“Enough!” The dragon bellowed, interrupting another heated argument between two generals. “This is getting us nowhere! It is certainly not getting us inside the castle walls! Now….” the king said as he lowered his head closer to the generals, who were not immune to the intimidating effect. “...to summarize this pointless discussion; you all agree we should attack as soon as possible, but you all disagree on how to attack because you are uncertain what awaits us behind the walls. Is this correct?”

The generals looked at each other uncertainly. One by one, they started to nod.

“Then wouldn’t it be more prudent to send one of our own into the castle in secret to spy on them?”

“My liege, of course that would be the wisest course of action.” The sunfire general hastily replied. “However, in our haste to attack the human lands we were unable to fully prepare for scenarios like this. Would have have waited a few months, we could have planned for- “

“I will not give the humans those months! They are to be exterminated as soon as possible! Every second they are yet alive is another second where the innocent creatures of Xadia are under threat!”

“O-of course. All I’m saying is that we don’t have any soldiers with the right skillset to infiltrate a stronghold like that. We could try to send one of course, but the chance of success is terribly low.” 

The dragon king scoffed. “What. Do we not have our moonshadow elves? Are they not the stealthiest of elves?”

Some of the generals flinched as the king praised the shadow elves above their own kind. The sunfire general tried his best to explain. “They are assassins. They are not part of our armed forces! We don’t have any here!”

King Auruem Umbra slowly turned his head towards Rayla. “We do have one…” 

For the second time that day, all eyes turned to Rayla, who was startled by the sudden attention. “Uhhh…..” 

“Rayla of Xadia, heroin of the moonshadow elves, I charge you with this mission, to infiltrate Katolis castle and discover what it is they are planning. Find out what you can and report back to us.”

The generals all mumbled as the king declared the mission without discussing it with them, but they dared not to object to the matter.

Rayla was completely caught off guard by the sudden turn of events. She had expected to see the castle crumble and fall from a distance, but never to see it up close again. She wasn’t sure what to say. Could she do this? Remembering her position as a dragonguard however, she quickly regained her composure and saluted. “Your will be done my king. “ 

“See to it that it is done. And, if you see the opportunity, please kill the king and their generals. Whatever could help us to bring the humans to their knees.”

“Right… of course….” She tried to keep the sadness out of her voice as she replied, but didn’t quite manage. _How can I kill Ezran!? He’s my friend!_ “So...when do I leave?”

The giant moonshadow archdragon raised his head and looked at the skies. “The moon will be full tomorrow. You will be at the height of your powers then. Tomorrow night, when the moon rises, that is when you will begin your mission.” 

Rayla nodded, then mumbled, “Yes. Good. I will…. Do the mission I mean.” Groans were coming from the generals seated at the table. She tried her best to ignore them. 

The dragon king squinted at her. “You are dismissed. Get Orris to replace you as my guard, and make sure you are well rested for tomorrow evening.” 

Rayla saluted, hesitated whether she should say anything, then thought the better of it and just left.

Once she was gone, one of the generals coughed awkwardly. “My liege, not to judge your immense wisdom, but… is it wise to send the elf who has fraternized with the enemy?”

The dragon king grunted. He had expected them to pose the question. “Time is pressing. We cannot wait for other moonshadow elves if we should call them here, so we must send her. She knows the castle since she has already been there. Despite her many shortcomings, she has always fought for Xadia. Her loyalty has been proven, time and time again.” The king strained his neck and kept an eye on Rayla as she disappeared in one of the tents in the camp. “Besides, I do not think that the humans will take kindly to an elf who has killed their beloved prince. If she is captured, her end will be swift.”

-/-/-/-

Ezran sat on his bed in his old tower room. He had never moved into the master bedroom after he became king. It felt weird. To him, that was still his dad’s room. Other people were staying there now because they lacked space to house all the refugees properly, and he felt much more at ease in his old cozy place anyway.

As he looked out the window and watched the moon and stars appear, he started to think about the predicament he was in. _If we can hold out for a few weeks, Aanya said that her army could attack them in the rear. But there must be a way to end this conflict without killing someone, despite what Opili said._

He sat cross legged on the bed and closed his eyes, and focussed on his breathing. He had seen some of the veteran soldiers do exercises like that to calm themselves down. He figured he could give it a try now. 

As he calmed down, he wrecked his brain on how to solve this conflict. Bargaining was his best bet, but he didn’t know what he could offer the dragon king that would placate him. _He wants revenge. He wants to kill humans… The problem is the king. The king wants the wrong things…_

As Ezran sat there and drifted between thinking and falling asleep, he felt a familiar tug on his consciousness. _Zym!_

Almost instinctively he reached out with his mind and connected to his dear dragon friend. _Zym, you’re here!_

_Ezzz!_

Ezran heard the draconic voice in his mind. Zym couldn’t say his name properly, he could barely speak as is, but he and Zym had been practicing whenever they connected. Ezran for his part, was trying to get more control on their connection. So far, he had made little progress, but this didn't keep Ezran from trying. 

_Zym! How are you doing? Is everything okay?_

A draconic yelp came as the dragon tried to process the words. _Yep! Ooooke. Miss Ezzz. Misss Ray. Misss Cam…_

Ezran swallowed. The death of his brother had hit him hard. He had tried to deal with it, but there was always something more pressing that demanded his attention, so any thoughts about his brother had always been shoved to the background. _I miss them too._ He quickly replied, before switching subjects. _Zym… the elves are near the castle. The dragon king is leading them. Can you ask your mom to stop him?_

Ezran sensed the hesitation on the dragon’s side. _Maaybrrr?_ The dragon replied. _Trrr spek mommmma._

It took Ezran a few seconds before he understood what the dragon meant. _Yes! Go try to speak to your mother! I’m sure she’ll understand!_

 _Ya!_ Was the cheerful reply, before the dragon grew silent.

Ezran sensed that he was still connected to the dragon. He focussed on his eyes and was not surprised when he began to see through Zym’s. He saw the young dragon hopping around from where he nested towards the entrance. The young dragon didn’t look around, so Ezran figured that for some reason, queen Zubeia was not in the Great Hall itself. As Zym hopped out of the great hall, several elves looked up in surprise. Ezran couldn’t say he recognized any of them. He half expected to catch a glimpse of Rayla, but then remembered Soren said that she was here, with the dragon king. Zym hopped past the guards, towards the exit of the Storm Spire. Several elves rushed after them. 

“Wait up little prince! Where are you going?” From the sound of footsteps Ezran thought that the elves were probably following Zym. However he couldn’t control Zym, only watch through his eyes, and Zym’s eyes were focussed on the bright light ahead of him.

It was a radiant day when Zym exited the Storm Spire. The sun was shining brightly down upon the mountain. The dragon queen was lying in the warm sun in front of the entrance with a winged elf hovering nearby. The queen looked up in surprise as her son approached. 

“Prince Azymondias, are you done playing already?”

Zym rushed to his mother and nudged her giant paw. Though he had been growing, for dragons it was a slow process and the paw would still dwarf him for many years to come. “Ezzz! Ezzz!” Zym said happily, looking up into his mother’s eyes.

Queen Zubeia cocked her head. “What are you trying to tell me my son?” She leaned over, lowering her head until their snouts touched. Sparks of electricity erupted between them, a legacy of their species. 

Ezran felt the sparks himself. He rubbed his nose out of reflex, but otherwise remained focussed on his vision. He saw the big, bright eyes of the dragon queen pierce his gaze as her son kept talking to her. “Ezzz. Halp Ezzzz. Fight...BAD!” Zym ended his statement with a zap in the air, excited that his human friend had given him something to do without fully understanding how much danger his friend was really in. 

The queen seemed pensive for a moment. “You’re worried about your friend Ezran, aren’t you?” She sighed deeply. “I dislike the fighting as much as you do. But there’s no stopping the king, not after the last attack. And I can’t say I blame him. They almost killed us.” Her eyes turned sad as she remembered that night. She couldn’t recall a time where she had been more scared of her life and of Azymondias’ 

Zym picked up on her mood, but also on the fact that she hadn’t changed her mind. He stomped around, a bit miffed that she didn’t give the reply Ezran wanted. “Ezzz….frind! Ezzz nice!”

“Oh, young prince, you are still too small to understand the workings of the big world around you. The king won’t spare the humans, even the innocent ones. Perhaps if some other arch dragon were to take his place, like Ignious Rex… But I don’t see that happen anytime soon.”

Zym made soft whining noises and nudged against his mother, who nudged him back. _Momma not help…_ he sent to Ezran. 

_I know Zym. But you did. You were a great help!_

This cheered Zym up a little, and he smiled. 

Ezran smiled as he broke his mental connection with his friend. He thought about what the queen said. _She won’t help, and the king won’t change his mind. But what if the king wasn’t the king anymore?_ Ezran had an idea. It was a long shot though. With renewed hope, he rushed out the door in search of Opili and Soren. 

-/-/-/-

The cube landed in the corner. It slid along the floor and came to a stop. Callum used his foot to nudge it back to him so that he could toss it again. The cube might be an artifact of an all-powerful mage, right now it was just something for Callum to throw against the wall. 

He was frustrated. His body still hadn’t recovered.He felt weak, and everytime he looked in the mirror, he swore he saw his evil corrupted mirror image sneering back at him. 

Callum wanted to do nothing more than spread out his wings and fly away from here. But he was too weak, and Viren had warned him that the cultists had strict orders to keep him here, because Claudia wasn’t sure if the charm effect had worn off. 

Yeah, there was that. _Claudia charmed me with a spell…._

It felt like another stab in the back from his once friend/crush. He knew she had chosen a different side, but he had never dreamt that she would turn out to be so… so…. _Evil._

The memories returned to him slowly. He remembered researching the spell and learning more about dark magic, eventually helping the other cultists with their training. He remembered other things… things that Claudia had made him do. He grunted and tossed the cube a little harder than he had meant to. It smacked against the wall and slid along the ground, leaving a dent in the wall. _She asked me to kiss her… and of course, the spell made me do it. She made me do it._

He remembered more and more of the attack. Most of it was still blurry, but he figured he had probably killed someone. He wasn’t too sure who though. In the end, he was just glad he wasn’t able to kill Rayla. He was even glad that she had ended his killing spree.

He tossed the cube again, but this time it was just a very simple toss up in the air. The cube landed without tumbling and settled, then it shifted all of a sudden, sliding back towards Callum. He did a double take. _That’s odd cube behaviour…_ He grabbed the cube and held it. It still displayed the same symbols of the different arcanums as it used to do. Then, two of the sigels started glowing. One of them came to no surprise. It was the sigil of the air arcanum. He remembered it used to glow when he held the cube in his hand for a while. But on the opposite side was a purple glow. Callum slowly turned the cube around and noticed that the sigil of the star arcanum was glowing faintly.

 _….that’s odd. Wait, does that mean…!?_ With a flash, he remembered a bright light. He remembered seeing the world from afar, from a bird's point of view, high, high up in the sky. He remembered all the different colors of light flowing around the continent, _like waves of magic._ He then remembered the relivilation he had when he was in that other place. _I understand the Star Arcanum!_

Callum somehow doubted that he really did, but the cube was definitely telling him that he had a connection. _Wow… but what can I do with it?_ His curiosity to explore this new aspect of him quickly overtook all the negative thoughts he had and he found himself wrecking his mind for any references to star arcanum magic he might have come across this past year. Turns out, there was this one particular spell that he had wanted to try. _The dream spell!_

He got back on the bed and took a cross legged position, holding the cube in his hands. He focussed, his mind providing him the image of the parchment which held the spell. It was a complicated one, and Callum took a minute to study the runes and words that went along with it. Carefully, he raised a hand and traced a finger through the air. Mystic, purple energy followed his finger as he traced the rune. “Somniare. Hoc quod te rogo. Quemadmodum iubeo.” 

It was a long incantation and he sincerely hoped that he said it correctly. He felt the spell take effect, as he immediately felt himself become drowsy. He let himself fall onto the bed and closed his eyes as his consciousness faded from him. But as he felt himself relax, he also felt how the cosmic energy he was using from the spell was torn from him. He panicked, knowing now that he let himself relax too much, while he should have kept the focus on the spell. 

His last bit of consciousness tried to frame a coherent thought before he was pulled into a deep slumber. _Uh oh… this can’t be good...._

-/-/-/-

Rayla yawned. It had been a long, annoying night. She had talked (more like argued now that she thought of it really) with Orris for hours about how he could best replace her. Orris was of the opinion that he should be as prominently displayed as possible to intimidate any would-be attackers, while Rayla argued that if the guard was present in the background, they would be more likely to notice things that were hidden. They were opposites, like sun and moon. Fitting, considering their lineage. 

As she bunked down, the first rays of the sun already tried to peek through the heavy curtains of her tent. She shut her eyes, shutting them out completely. She just hoped that sleep would come swiftly to take her away from the pain in her heart and all her worldly troubles. 

She was annoyed when sleep didn’t come. She had her eyes closed, but she felt strangely energetic. _Strange… I felt sleepy a moment ago._ She turned on her side, hoping to make herself comfortable, when she felt something sharp press in her side. This only annoyed her further. _Oh for Garlath’s sake! What does an elf have to do to get some sleep!?_ With her hand, she brushed it away and was surprised when she felt her hand sweep the cold stone floor.

She quickly opened her eyes, but it was still dark. It was also cold and damp. She was in some kind of cave. As she looked around she came to the slow realisation that this place was very familiar. She was back in the great hall of the Storm Spire. _But that’s impossible! I was in my tent just now...wasn’t I?_

Her brain felt fuzzy. She tried to remember what had happened. She tried to get to sleep, so how did she end up here? As she looked around she felt in her gut that something was wrong. _I don’t hear anything… Where are the dragons?_ The great hall appeared to be empty.

She stood up and exited the great hall. The front hall of the Storm Spire was just as she remembered it. The benches and tables stood where they had left them but nobody sat upon them. “That’s weird… usually there is at least one dragon guard in this hall…” 

Feeling uneasy, she crept through the hall searching for any sign of life. She peeked down the hallways where the dragonguards had their rooms. They were empty, but she did see that one door was ajar. It wasn’t her door though. That was the door to Bosor’s old room. She crept closer and peered inside through the crack. There was no light, no sound. Her heart pounded in her chest. _What’s going on here?_

She pushed the door open and looked inside, but could barely see anything in the darkness. She quickly moved to the other end of the room, searching for the luneflame. She found it and lit it, grabbing the candle so that she could look around. The room was a mess. There was broken furniture here, and the room smelled of sulfur and blood. Her eyes grew wide as she saw a bloodtrail on the floor, leading towards one of the beds built into the wall. There were curtains hanging in front of it, obscuring anyone laying in it. The curtains had blood on them as well. 

Her heart was pounding in her chest now. She slowly stepped towards the bed and in one quick move pulled the curtain aside. She gasped. In the bed lay a body, clearly dead, it’s skin pale as ice. _Bosor!_ The elf looked like he did when he died. Emotions overwhelmed her, and she gently reached out to touch his cheek, missing her fellow dragonguard dearly. 

Suddenly, Bosor’s eyes opened and locked on hers, while his claw-like hand snapped around her wrist. Rayla opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The dead elf looked at her with an unnerving intensity. “Not…...his…...fault…. “ It rasped. 

Rayla came to her senses and tried to pull away, but the claw was unrelenting. “Not…..his…..fault….” the voice rasped again. It sounded like Bosor, but it was dry, deformed. Rayla felt panic rise in her stomach.

“Let me go!” She put one foot on the edge of the bed and pulled with all her might. She saw another claw appearing, reaching for her ankle. With a last ditch effort she pulled and finally came free, falling backwards. 

Her relief was short lived however, as she saw the claw-like hand still dangling from her wrist. The arm had broken off at the elbow. As she looked up she was filled with horror as she saw the body crawl out of bed, flopping on the ground, then crawl towards her. “Not…..his…...fault……”

“Get away from me!” She pulled the claw from her wrist and threw it at the dead elf before rushing back into the hallway. As she ran from the room, she kept hearing Bosor’s voice rasping the same message. “Not ….. His…..fault…..”

“My swords...I need to find my swords!” When she entered the hall, she looked around for a weapon. She couldn’t find any, but she did spot movement. From the entrance of the Great Hall stumbled various figures. Rayla recognized the large form of Gaia, only the elf was completely burned, with black, cracked skin. She groaned and mumbled as she stumbled closer to Rayla. Behind her came another figure which resembled Icra. 

Rayla grimaced. _What on earth is happenin’!? Is this a nightmare!?_ None of it was making sense to her. The dead shouldn’t move, much less try to grab her! However, despite the initial shock, Rayla was not immediately afraid of the elf-zombies. She was a warrior. Her battle-hardened senses took over and she analyzed the situation. They were slow, and she was not. She figured she could stay out of their reach as long as she didn’t get herself cornered. What concerned her more was not knowing how she ended up here. _This feels too real to be some kind of dream..._

She quickly searched the hall while staying out of the reach of the zombies, but she couldn’t find any weapons. The elf-zombies were now getting closer, slowly surrounding her. The dead body of Bosor had now crawled out of the hallway as well. “Stayin’ here’s too dangerous…” she hissed to herself. She turned to exit the Storm Spire when she saw a hooded figure standing in the doorway. The sun was behind him, so all she saw was a black outline. However, her heart beat faster as she heard his voice.

“Rayla! Quick, this way!” 

“Callum!” She rushed towards him and embraced him, holding him tightly. She smelled his familiar smell and felt herself relax. “Callum, I dunno if this is a dream. It must be now that you’re here…” Her mind struggled to catch up with the situation,but she put those thoughts out of her mind and tried to just enjoy the moment. 

“Rayla, it’s okay. But we’ve got to go. We’ve got a little problem with walking dead people.”

Rayla whipped around and saw that the three dead elves were getting pretty close now. She turned to look at Callum, but he had already turned around. 

“Come, let’s go.” He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her along. As they exited the structure, Rayla saw that there were a lot more dead people milling about outside. They looked a lot like the cultists that had attacked the Storm Spire. The dead cultists moved about in a brainless way and when they saw the duo, they slowly shambled in their direction. “We need to go up!” 

Rayla let herself be pulled along on the stairs spiraling upwards to the plateau. She kept looking behind to see if the dead were following them. They did, at a steady pace, but she and Callum had put some distance between them. Soon, the zombies disappeared from view as they ascended the spiral stairs. When she looked at Callum again, she noticed something was off. _His hand… it looks….pale._ She suddenly remembered how Callum had looked when she had last seen him, during the attack. “Hold up!” she said as she whisked her hand away from his and stopped running. 

Callum stopped, but didn’t turn around. “We need to go!” he said, his back still turned to her.

“Somethin’s off about ya. Turn around so A can see yer face.” Her anger and mistrust was palpable as she spoke, now heavily doubting on who’s side Callum was. 

Callum hesitated. He could hear by the tone of her voice that she was on edge. _This entire dream thing has gone all kinds of wrong! I don’t want her to see me like this…_ “Rayla, we do not have time for this! They are coming!” 

She knew that. She could hear the growling and mumbling of the dead. They probably had already reached the stairs. However, this did not frighten her so much as what was in front of her. “Not before ya turn around!”

“Rayla… please.” Callum tried one last time, his shoulders sagging a little. 

“No Callum. A dunno what’s goin’ on. This feels too real to be a dream, but it canna be real either.” A thought struck her. She called out into the sky. “Zeron! Is this yer doin’ ya scunner!?” 

Callum sighed deeply. “No...no, this is my doing. I’m sorry.” He turned around.

Rayla inhaled sharply as she saw his corrupted, gray cracked face. “No… yer still a dark mage…” 

“No, I’m not! That wasn’t me!” 

“Well, this is ye now!” She pointed at him accusingly.

Callum gritted his teeth. This wasn’t going as he had planned at all. “Well, maybe I look like that, but on the inside it’s still me!”

“What in Garlath’s name is that supposed ta mean!?” The sound of the zombie elves and cultists was getting louder now, but she still ignored it. “Ya tried ta kill my friends! Ya even killed Bosor! And Icra and Gaia! Ye got blood on yer hands!” 

The words hit Callum like a hammer. He couldn’t bear her accusations. He stumbled closer, hoping in vain that she would hug him again. “Rayla, please, I beg of you…” 

“No! Stay away!” Rayla took a step back defensively but was surprised by a groan that came from behind her. She turned to look and saw that the dead had ascended the stairs. They were only a few steps away from her. _A’ve gotta get out of this nightmare!_ She looked around. Her choices were zombies, or the dark mage. _Not a lot of appealin’ options._ Then she looked down the mountain and a third option came to mind. 

“Please Rayla. I...I just want to talk to you. I-I’m-” 

“NO! You stay away from me ya hear!?” She stepped sideways, closer to the edge. They were almost upon her now. She breathed deeply. _Think happy thoughts. This is just a dream. I’ll be awake soon._

Callum saw her step backwards, closer to the edge. “Careful Rayla, they might push you off! Please, you’ve got to come with me!”

Rayla looked into his eyes and said her words with a finality that pierced right through his heart. “No, A don’t.” She spread her arms and let herself fall backwards. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was Callum leaning over the edge as the dead swarmed him while he screamed at her.

“Rayla, No!”

With a shock, Rayla opened her eyes. She was back in her tent. Groaning, she stumbled towards the tentflap to check the time. _Oh d’arvit, this is just great!_ The sun was going down, meaning that there were only a few hours left before she would have to go on her mission. “Great, and I don’t feel rested at all. Friggin’ nightmare....” With a heavy sigh she stumbled out of her tent to make ready for her nightly adventure. 

-/-/-/-

“I smell death!” The sundragon roared. He spread his claws appart, steadying himself, as he raised his head and inhaled deeply. His neck started to glow.

Claudia thought of a witty reply and was about to call out, but then thought the better of it. _I already screwed up our last mission. I shouldn’t do something stupid this time._ Instead, she remained silent as to not alert the giant dragon of their presence. 

The cultists fanned out. They were with fewer this time. After Claudia failed to return with the mages from the attack on the Storm Spire, there had been a lot of commotion caused by the surviving relatives. Claudia had to use bribery and charm spells to pull herself out of that mess. It had become painfully obvious to her that she was not all-powerful and that there were definitely consequences for her actions. 

Perhaps most severe was Aaravos’ response to her failed mission. “You were warned,” he simply said. But the disappointment in the bugs' face spoke volumes. With the departure of her father, she had only Callum and Aaravos to lean on for support. Callum died. She was able to resurrect him, but he remained in a coma and she wasn’t sure why. That meant that the only person left to talk to was Aaravos, and he was furious with her for wasting so many resources on an attack he had already predicted was doomed to fail. 

“Watch out!” A cultist called out as the dragon’s jaws opened wide, flames forcing itś way through rock and stone. The dragon was blind however, and the cultists were not. And they had been smart enough to mask their scent with various herbs. To put it plainly, they all smelled like duskweed. 

Claudia did not have to move to avoid the stream of flame; it was not aimed at her. Once the dragon was spent, she gave the signal. “Stun him!” 

All the cultists sprung forward and cast their dark magic spell, stunning the arch dragon where he stood. 

“What’s this!? You dare use your foul magic on me!? I am Sol Regem! I will tear you limb for limb!” The dragon raged, however, his mouth was the only thing he could move. The rest of its gargantuan body was frozen in place. 

Claudia raised her staff and focussed, gathering the power she needed to finish off the dragon. A black orb began to form on the top of her staff, crackling with dark energy. As she started the incantation, she glanced left and right to see all the mages focussing their own power in keeping the dragon in place. _My dad could have never done this in the past,_ she thought. _He and I were the only mages in Katolis. Look what we can achieve if we have a whole bunch of us working together!_ She focused back on the dragon, narrowing her eyes. _We can take on the world!_

Clauda focussed on her gathering power just as she was joined by Aaravos, his bug creature now descending from the sky. 

“Well done Claudia. His heart will be the perfect ingredient for the most powerful primal stone in the world; the Heart of a Dragon. Now, finish him off. 

Claudia nodded and raised her staff, but as she saw the dragon standing there, she hesitated, thinking back on how Callum used his absorb spell to gain the lifeforce of another to be used for later spells. _There’s a whole lot of lifeforce right in front of me!_ “Can’t we absorb his power instead? Think of all the spells you could cast with that much power! We could still cut out the heart afterwards!”

“He’s pretty weak for an arch dragon.” Aaravos said. “Regardless, that approach is still too risky. He’s trying to break the stun spell right now! Better to just kill him and cut out his heart.”

Claudia bit her lip. She knew he was right, but at the same time, she didn’t want to lose the opportunity to gain more power. “Are you sure I can’t try to-”

“Claudia! Do it, or risk losing your life this time!” The casual tone Aaravos normally used was gone. Instead he sounded like he was losing his patience with her behaviour.

Claudia winced. Deep down inside, she wasn’t sure whether Aaravos was warning her of the dragon’s power, or the consequence should she fail him a second time. 

With a scream she let go of her spell and hurled the black orb right at the arch dragon’s chest. It exploded with a flash. A wave of heat rolled over the archmages as the dragon roared in agony and crumpled to the ground. When the dust settled, they could see the arch dragon laying there in a pool of its own blood. 

The cultists cheered and offered their congratulations to Claudia. “Thanks, but we did it together!” she replied. As she moved towards the dead dragon, she turned to Aaravos. “Well, that was easy! We should have done that the first time!”

Aaravos sounded bemused. “Yes, you should have. And had you heeded my council, you _would_ have.” 

“Oh, don’t give me that. We almost won at the Storm Spire! It was so close!” 

“So close to dying you must mean. You overreached, you gambled. Because of that, you nearly lost everything.”

“Well, yes but nearly isn’t completely!” She said with a wink.

The bug just stared at her before walking away. “Finish the job Claudia.” 

She stared at the bugform for a while, smirking, keeping up the facade of a happy, untroubled sorcerer. Claudia wanted to make it sound like it was no big deal, but she hid her real thoughts and feelings about the night they attacked the Storm Spire. In reality it terrified her that she came so close to dying. It was Callum who had saved her numerous times that night, and he paid the ultimate price in the end. It was a miracle that she had managed to get away with his body and resurrect him, though she wasn’t sure that the spell worked completely. _He’s in some sort of coma because of me. Poor Callum. I really do owe him. Maybe I’ll try easing off the charm spell… If he will love me without it that is._

She looked at the sky, thinking about her charmed boyfriend hundreds of miles away. _Anyway, dad is watching over him right now. I’m sure he’ll be fine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s notes
> 
> Here we go, the first chapter of War of Cinders! I do hope you like it. It’s about high time that I returned to writing. I wanted to do something with the visions of “dark Callum” at the end of season 2. That’s one of the reasons why I put this in the story. I want to build on what the creators already put in the show, building the connection between that and the fanfic. It’s working out quite well so far. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, and as always, please let me know what you think of the story!


	3. Strange reunions

It was a cold and quiet night. There were no clouds, so the light of the full moon and the stars shone down brightly upon Katolis Castle. The guards on the battlements were alert, but relaxed. They could see clearly in the bright moonlight. Because of that, they weren’t expecting any trouble. After all, who would launch a surprise attack on the brightest night of the month?

Rayla stretched behind an old, charred tree. The dragons had scourged the land around the castle, meaning that there was little to no cover. But she was close enough to the castle to see the human soldiers as tiny figures in the distance, walking the battlements. She had observed them for an hour now and had a good idea of where the patrols would be. 

_It's time…_ Rayla looked up to the sky and felt herself be filled with the light and energy of the full moon. She felt the familiar tingling, the thumping of her heart as it beat faster, energized by the light of the full moon. She still couldn’t quite describe what she was feeling, but within seconds, she was filled to the brim with Moonshadow powers. The feeling of using her powers as she turned translucent put a smile on her face, even if she had to use them to break into her friends home again. She turned her blades into hooks and rushed to the walls, leaping up and crashing into it, a decent distance from the ground. As she made her way upwards, she wondered what the humans were up to. _Soren was pretty sure of himself. I wonder what king Ezran has in store for us._

-/-/-/-

Corvus looked up to the full, bright moon and cursed his luck. _Of course the king had to decide to do this on the brightest night of the season._ He kept his thoughts to himself however as he looked about. The courtyard was full with carts and piles of goods, all belonging to the various refugees that were housed in the castle. This meant that there were plenty of hiding spots. _A good thing too,_ Corvus thought. _They’ve tripled the watch now that we’re under siege._

“So, are we ready to go?” King Ezran said, rather loudly. He was dressed in dark-green traveling clothes and carried a satchel on his back with Bait peeking out of it. 

Corvus bit his tongue. Though it was stupid of the king to talk loudly like that during a stealth mission, no one would ever catch him being disrespectful to the king. “Yes, we’re ready.” he whispered. “But you must keep your voice down, your majesty.” 

“Oh! Right, sorry.” Ezran whispered sheepishly. Bait croaked in confirmation. 

Corvus squinted at the frog like creature. “Do we really need to bring your pet?”

Ezran looked offended. “Bait is an honoured member of the royal family. Of course he’s coming along!” He patted Bait behind his back. “Isn’t that right, buddy?” Bait croaked contently, while squinting back at Corvus. 

The tracker swore inwardly. _This won’t make the mission any easier._ He beckoned for the king to follow him. The three of them snuck from wagon to wagon, staying out of sight of the guards. No one was to know that the king was gone. The only people who knew were general Amaya and Opili, advisor to the crown. _I certainly hope that the king’s plan will pay off._ _This is so risky…_ If the soldiers would discover they had snuck out, there could be all sorts of trouble. Morale could drop, rumours could spread that the king had fled and the Xadian army could see it as a sign of weakness and an opportunity to strike. But the king had explained his plan to his general and advisor and while they were not happy about it, they all agreed it was worth the risk. _At the very least, they have chosen me to protect the king._ Corvus knew that he was one of the best soldiers in the army. Though Soren was probably better at sword fighting, Corvus was an expert at traveling stealthily. They all hoped that with Corvus to guide him, the king would reach his destination quickly and safely. 

They reached the tower which marked a corner section of the wall. It was opposite of where the Xadian army had camped. It meant they had to make a detour to get to Xadia, but it was definitely safer, or so they assumed. As they walked up the stairs, Corvus held up his hand before they reached the top. Voices could be heard. “A patrol. Be still your majesty.” Ezran said nothing, but nodded.

The light of the torches illuminated part of the stairs as the guardsmen walked past. The stealthy duo could hear them talking silently. Well, one of them at least.

“So, how was your day Brenn?

“Brenn feels FINE!” 

“Right, okay, you feel fine, I get it. Could you, like, quiet down a bit though?”

“DON’T WANT TO BE QUIET! Want to FIGHT!.” 

“Man, that curse really did a number on you, didn’t it?”

As the light of the patrol faded, Corvus motioned for them to continue their way up the stairs. As they reached the top of the tower they could see the guards retreating in the distance. Ezran watched them go and could see that one of them was glowing faintly, yellow and orange cracks showing on whatever skin was visible. _A cursed soldier…_ Ezran was quick to reïnstate these soldiers when he found out about Xadia’s plans to attack them. The coöperation between them and the Broken Chains had been rocky at first, but when Xadia attacked, they united because they had a common enemy. And a good thing too. They had super strength, were fearless in battle and seemed immune to dragon fire. The only drawback was that they seemed to have traded in part of their intelligence for that. Following orders was a problem for some of them because they couldn’t understand the orders. They were aware of this, and many of these soldiers had already expressed the wish to be turned back once there was a cure for their curse.

 _But right now it’s a blessing,_ Ezran thought. _We need their strength. We need everyone’s strength._

Corvus let them out of the tower and onto the battlements. The plan was to climb down using Corvus’ chain, and then to head south as quickly as they could, away from the Xadian army. However as soon as they stepped out of the tower, Corvus felt his neck-hairs stand on end. Everything in his being was telling him that they were being watched by something. 

“Hide, your majesty.” Corvus hissed as he unwound his chain. “Someone’s here.” 

-/-/-/-

Rayla’s timing was impeccable. The guards had just disappeared into the tower as she climbed on top of the battlements. Her transparent form would make this mission a lot easier of course. It was not that she was invisible completely, but you could see through her, with only her outline being faintly visible. 

She crouched low and looked down into the courtyard. _What a mess…_ She saw the carts and bales that were strewn about. Then a couple of guards came into view. She lowered herself to the ground even more, but kept her eyes on them. She realised that one of them was glowing. _Could it be…!? They’re usin’ Viren’s cursed soldiers!? Oh, that’s bad. They can’t be hurt by dragonfire!_

She saw the guards walking along several carts, inspecting them. They pulled the tarp off one of them. Rayla saw that a large ballista was underneath them; a giant crossbow meant for only one thing; killing dragons! 

Rayla snuck back from the edge and looked around. _I need a better vantage point so I can see more…._ She looked at the tower from where the guards came. It was a round structure with a large, red, pointed roof. _That’ll do._ She quickly sped along the battlements. There were muffled voices in the distance. _That’ll be the next patrol._ She reached the tower and quickly scurried to the roof. Once on it, she kept quiet as the next patrol appeared. She was close enough to hear them speak.

“Brenn not stupid. Just...talk is difficult now.” 

“I know you’re not stupid Brenn. Just out of curiosity though, what’s one plus one?”

“Uhhh…..” 

“See? That’s what I mean.” 

“If you not stop, Brenn will PUSH YOU OF CASTLE!” 

“....fair enough.”

Rayla saw that one of the two guards had the same glowing, cracked skin she had come to recognize as the trademark of Viren’s cursed army. She hadn’t fought any of them herselves, but she had seen them chained up in the aftermath. Though subdued, most of those cursed soldiers had survived the final battle. _And now they’re usin’ them against us...again._ The guards walked on, eventually disappearing in the next tower. Once they were out of sight, she stood up and looked around, paying specific attention to the battlements and towers. She noted that several towers had ballista bolts protruding from the open windows, evidence that most towers were equipped with the devices. She also saw that there were a lot of ballistas placed on the walls of the inner castle. She could see the sharp points shining brightly in the moonlight. Rayla figured they were placed there because they had more reach from that height.

_Oh, this is bad…. If the Xadian army attacks, the dragons will have a hard time getting close. And even if they use fire, those cursed soldiers can just continue to shoot back. That means that our soldiers are on their own…_

She was startled from her thoughts when she heard muffled voices beneath her. _What? Another patrol? Did they change their rounds or somethin’?!_ She quickly crouched down on the roof and peered down at an odd looking couple of soldiers. One of them was definitely smaller than usual, cloaked in a dark robe, and the other seemed somewhat familiar. _Wait a second.._

Corvus suddenly turned and launched his hook in Rayla’s direction. With nowhere to go, Rayla leapt forward, over the pair, and landed in front of them, her blades crossed in a defensive position. “Stand back your majesty. They’ve sent moonshadow elf assassins!” Corvus took a protective stance in front of Ezran, who looked both curious and terrified. 

Rayla quickly came to the realisation who was in front of them. “W-wait! Corvus, Ezz, it’s me! Rayla!” She slipped into focus as she dropped her Moonshadow form. 

Ezran gave a look of utter surprise. “Rayla? What are you doing here!?” He walked forward to hug her, but Corvus stopped on.

“Careful, your majesty. This is still a Moonshadow elf assassin.” He said without looking away from her. “Why are you here? Explain yourself!”

“Eeh… I...uuh.” Somehow, saying that she was here to spy on them so that Xadia could destroy this castle and everyone in it didn’t seem like the best thing to say at the moment. Instead, she tried to change the topic. “Well, I’ll explain later. How are you doin’? I haven’t seen you in a while!” She tried to sound joval, but it made the situation only more awkward.

Ezran looked hesitant towards Corvus. “We… are...taking a walk! Yeah, that’s it! Just taking a stroll, enjoying the cool night air.” 

“Yes….exactly!” Corvus supplied, going along with whatever story his king was rolling with. “But you are unwanted here _elf,_ ” he said, emphasizing her race. “You should go, before-”

Suddenly, the three were startled as voices could be heard coming from behind them. 

“...that would be the next patrol.” Rayla deadpanned.

“Oh no!” Ezran exclaimed softly. “They can’t spot us or they’ll know! Corvus!” The young king looked up to the veteran.

“Don’t worry your majesty. I got you covered.” He grabbed Ezran by the waist, swung his hook up to the roof of the tower where it wound along itś narrow tip and jumped against the wall, pulling them up along the chain.”

Rayla cursed under her breath as she reactivated her moonshadow form and climbed up after them. The three of them sat on the roof silently as the patrol passed underneath them. Once the soldiers were out of sight, Rayla turned to the humans as she deactivated her moonshadow form. “Alright Ezz, I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re hidin’ somethin’. What’s going on? Why can’t you be seen here by your own soldiers?”

“Don’t answer her, your majesty. She is a spy for Xadia!” Corvus had already rerolled his chain, holding the hook in his hand. 

“What? Rayla, a spy? Of course not! Rayla is our friend!” Ezran exclaimed, smiling at her.

Rayla smiled back awkwardly. _He’s still such a sweet kid…_ “Well...actually… the dragon king did kinda ask me to slip in to take a look…” She tried to smile, make it seem like it was no big deal, but Ezran looked shocked, horrified even.

“What!? But why would you do that! I thought you were our friend!”

“I still am!” Rayla hastily defended. “It’s just that...well… he’s my king, you know? I-I have to do as he says.” Her smile faded. She tried very hard not to think of the fact that within a few nights, this could mean that she was ordered to kill humans. She had already received a vague order to kill Ezran and she felt conflicted about ignoring it. Not that a single fiber in her being wanted to kill her dear friend Ezran! But it still felt like by doing the right thing, she was betraying something else. This reminded her very much of her first mission, almost a year ago. _Guess some things never change…_

“King Ezran, this is war.” Corvus let his hook dangle and put a comforthing hand on his king’s shoulder. “Rayla is still your friend. I can see the conflict in her eyes. But she’s also Xadian. She has a duty, as do I.”

Rayla said nothing, but nodded. The Katolis veteran seemed to understand her feelings.

“But that’s so wrong! We shouldn’t be fighting in the first place! We had nothing to do with the attack on the Storm Spire!” 

“I’m afraid king Aureum Umbra doesn’t see it that way.” Rayla looked away and fiddled with her blades. “Callum was with the attack after all.”

“That wasn’t Callum. Like, I know he was, but he wasn’t….wasn’t….” Ezran tried to put his thoughts to words. “He wasn’t right! Like it wasn’t really him, you know?” 

Rayla was instantly reminded of Bosor’s last words. _Not his fault._ She nodded, looking sad as the memories of the attack came back to her. “Yeah, I know.” 

“Well I won’t stand for it! Corvus is going to help me put things right! We have a-”

“Shh! Quiet down!” Corvus motioned for both of them to be silent. Rayla disappeared from sight again, and the three of them waited quietly as another patrol passed by underneath them. “This really isn’t the place for this discussion.” Corvus said once the patrol had gone out of earshot. 

“Agreed.” Ezran said. He looked towards Rayla, who faded into view again. _It’s really cool when she does that!_ he thought. He continued speaking in hushed tones. “Anyway, I found out that king Aureum Umbra can be replaced by another dragon called Rex Igneous.” 

This information shocked Rayla. “What do you mean?”

Ezran hesitated. Was he really willing to spill his secret about his connection with Zym? _I shouldn’t tell them. If they don’t believe me, then they won’t help me. Well, Corvus will because I’m king, but Rayla needs to believe this is for the best._ “I have spies of my own Rayla.” He lied. “They tell me that queen Zubeia doesn’t want this war either. If another archdragon replaces the king, then we can stop this war!”

“Yeah, okay…” Rayla replied hesitantly. “It’s true that archdragons can challenge each other for their dominion **.** But do you even know where this Rex Igneous is?”

“No, but the queen does! That’s where we’re going!”

“You’ll never make it.” Rayla said quickly. “We’ve got soldiers hiding all around the castle! They’ll kill you before you even make it out of here!”

Ezran looked at Corvus for an answer to that, but his face looked grim. “I did not expect the elves to cover the southern side. Are they that afraid for a surprise attack?” Corvus asked.

“No… I think it was more to keep the humans from escaping any further. You’ve had us on the run for a while..” 

Corvus visibly deflated. “Then you must call off this mission sire.”

“Corvus…” Ezran wanted to object, but he couldn’t send his friend on a mission that would lead to their curtain death. 

Meanwhile, Rayla was mulling over what Ezran said. _It makes sense. If you can’t make peace with this king, then find another…_ His plan gave her a tiny spark of hope. _If he succeeds, then I won’t have to watch my friends die. On both sides. That’s worth something, right?_ She hesitated. When she abandoned her mission to kill the king over a year ago, she had been banished. _This time, it’ll probably be worse…_ But as she looked at Ezran’s face, she found a small, warm, fire filling her being. Hope for something better was something she hadn’t felt in a long time. 

“You can’t get past them. Not without me guidin’ you.” Rayla said, shaking the other two out of their thoughts.

“What!?” Corvus looked at her incredulously. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I’ve...because I’ve killed Callum and want to make up for it. Because I don’t want any other of my friends to die. Because I want this stupid, senseless war to end.” She blurted out, balling her fists. Her mind was made up.

Ezran approached her and put his hand on her arm. “But...they’ll punish you. You’ll be banished, or worse!” 

“Heh, probably. But if I don’t help you, a whole lot more people will die. And that’s not a world I want to live in anyway.”

Ezran saw that Rayla tried to play it off as a joke, but he also saw the truth of it in her eyes. There was a desperation in it. He curtly nodded, accepting her offer. “We’ll follow your lead Rayla. Right, Corvus?”

Corvus stored his hook and chain back on his shoulder. “Whatever you command, my king.” He had reservations about following Rayla, but it was their only chance and he could see no alternatives. If anything, Rayla had proven to always put the safety of Ezran above her own. That was enough for him, right now.

“Alright. Then let’s go, before another patrol gets to us!”

-/-/-/-

There was a knock at the door. Callum sighed. He already knew who it was. “Come in.” He said. 

The door opened and in walked Viren. “Did you sleep well?”

Callum gave him an expharated look. “Yes, wonderfully,” was Callum’s sarcastic reply. 

“Ah, good. You seemed to have a nightmare, but I’m glad to hear that it didn’t stick.”

 _Oh, it stuck alright…_ For most of the day, Callum couldn’t think of anything but the nightmare he had created. He wasn’t sure what happened. _Maybe I did the rune wrong? Or should I have kept my focus on the spell? But then how do I go to sleep if I keep concentrating!?_ One thing was for sure though. He might be almost a master of the sky arcanum but this certainly wasn’t the case for all the others. 

“So, now that you are awake, have you given your immediate future any thought?” Viren sat down on a chair while Callum was still sitting against the wall, again toying with the cube.

“I dunno…” He tossed the cube in the air, catching it as it came down. “Xadia and Katolis are at war, thanks to me.” Viren moved to interrupt him, but Callum held up his hand. “Well, at least partly, right? From what you’ve told me, and some of the guards here told me, I was ‘pretty amazing’ with dark magic. Somehow, without even wanting it, I made everything worse...¨ 

Viren blinked. “You spoke to the guards?”

“Well duh, there's no one else to talk to, with Claudia gone. Now with her, I’d _really_ like to have a strong-worded conversation!” Callum threw the cube against the wall with some force. It impacted and slid across the room, back in Callum’s direction. 

Viren winced as he recognized the artifact being thrown against the wall. _Well, that’s a waste…_ Under king Harrow he had the opportunity to study the cube, but apart from discovering it would glow when brought close to arcanum connected objects, it appeared to have no use. The king insisted on giving this to his sons, considering it was an heirloom. “You do know she will try to charm you again the moment she steps into this room, right?”

Callum Pushed his hands into his face and groaned. “The thought crossed my mind…” 

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know!” Callum yelled, his hands still covering his eyes. 

Viren watched the boy and wondered if Callum was going through his rebellious teen phase. He faintly recalled the struggles and arguments he had had with his own father, many many years ago. He figured he needed a father figure right now to guide him through this troublesome time. _Good thing that I sent a crow out yesterday. Perhaps I can provide that father figure through someone else._ “Well, I’ve brought in someone to help you get back on your feet. I would do it myself, but... I don’t think we have a good working relation, considering what happened in the past year.”

Callum looked up, giving him a look. “You can say that again. So, who have you brought with you then? Is it Duart? Or some other mage?”

The door opened, and a dark-robed man with long, black hair and cold, blue eyes. “Some ‘other mage’ would qualify I suppose…” 

Callum sat up straight, eyes wide. “Zeron! What are you doing here!?”

“Helping you, on his behest.” He said, pointing with his thumb to Viren. 

Viren looked confused. “Wait, do you two know each other?”

Zeron nodded. “Of course. Why do you think I came here straight away? I consider myself to be on friendly terms with the prince.”

Callum smiled. He would later realize that this was the first time he had smiled ever since he was brought back to life. “Well, I’d say the same. I don’t know how you ended up with Viren though, but I’m glad you’re here.” 

Zeron nodded, then sat down opposite of Callum. “Well, let’s start off then. Before we discuss your future, we’ll need to get in the right mindset, and we’re going to cast a spell for that.”

This caught Callum’s attention immediately. He loved magic, and the thought of casting a new spell appealed to him. “That sounds awesome! H-how do I help?”

Zeron smiled. “Repeat after me. I…”

“I…”

“Am…”

“Am…”

“An idiot.”

“An i- wait what!?” Callum frowned, already figuring out that this wasn’t some draconian spell. It sounded more like Zeron was pulling a prank on him. Before he could even finish the thought however, Zeron had already slapped him across the head. Callum recoiled and rubbed the sore spot. “Auch! What’s wrong with you!?”

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with _you!_ How can you be smart enough to master the sky arcanum, the first human in history, but still mess up so badly that you not only separated from Rayla but hooked up with your enemy instead!”

Callum was taken about by the outburst of the usually calm man. “I-I… I was charmed! It’s not my fault...I-”

“To hell with that! I’ve read master Thorus’ reports. You should have known that his daughter was making advances at you. And you shouldn’t have let your guard down around Claudia! How many times has she tried to capture you now?” 

Callum cringed. His mind did a mental count of all the times he had stood against Claudia, ever since their encounter at the Cursed Caldara. “...four. Four times.”

Zeron calmed down somewhat. “So why did you let yourself be charmed by her?”

“Because...because I wanted to believe that there was still some good in her. That she could be sorry for all of this.”

“There might be some good in her still Callum, but she will never admit that to herself while she’s in a position of power.” Zeron turned to Viren. “How long before she comes back?”

Viren shrugged. “Who can say? By my estimates, they could be back sometime tomorrow, if they are successful.”

Zeron thought for a bit, then nodded. ”Alright. Now that I’ve said my piece, let’s think about the future. What are your thoughts on that?”

 _Again with the future…_ Callum wrecked his brain, trying to gather the thoughts while still rubbing the sore spot of Zeron’s slap. Whenever he thought of the future, all his thoughts returned to Rayla, no matter where they went. “I...I want to get back to her. I want to get back to Rayla.”

“And do you have a plan on how to do that?”

“Well....” He hesitated, looking to Viren shiftely. Viren still sat on the chair, passively listening in on their conversation. “I...I tried to talk to her in a dream.”

“In a dream?”

“Well, it’s kind of hard to explain, but the thing is… ever since I...came back I guess? Ever since then, I’ve had the idea that I could use the star arcanum.” Callum had never seen Zeron surprised before, but he was seeing it now as the man’s eyes turned wide. Even Viren perked up. 

“How on earth did you manage that!?” Viren exclaimed.

“I don’t know! Maybe it has to do something with what master Thorus said. That you could only use the star arcanum if you had a certain perspective.”

“In oculus mortuorum.” Zeron said solemnly. 

“Uh...what’s that?” Callum thought it sounded draconian, but he didn’t see Zeron cast a spell or draw a rune. 

“The eyes of the dead. It’s an ancient expression, used for someone who has pierced beyond the veil” Zeron looked astonished. “It’s one thing to get resurrected, but another one entirely to come back with knowledge- no, wisdom from the beyond!”

Callum wasn’t sure where to look. “I mean… I remember some stuff, but most of it is pretty hazy. And some of the memories of what happened while I was charmed are still fuzzy as well.”

“That’s understandable. Now, let’s get back to the dream part. What exactly did you do?”

“Well, there was this spell that I discovered in the library of the Aero Temple, and I tried to cast it, but when I lay down, I lost control. The dream turned into a nightmare! I think I saw Rayla for a bit, but once she saw me, she was disgusted with me. She must have thought I was still charmed!”

Zeron seemed pensive, rubbing his chin while he was staring off into space. “Yes, I can imagine. It doesn’t help that you would have looked like you do now. Do you know you can change your form in the realm of dreams?”

Callum was astonished by this information. “You can do that!?”

Zeron grinned. “That… and much more. Now, since we do have some time, let me teach you.”

-/-/-/-

The small group had crested the hill and proceeded to set up camp. They had marched south all night, leaving the besieged castle far behind them. Rayla had let Corvus and Ezran past the stationed Xadian guards without issue. The march south had been tough, and they were very, very tired.

“This is a good place to rest.” Corvus said as he scanned the surroundings. They were close to the coast. Tomorrow, they would take a ship and travel the dangerous southern sea to reach Xadia. It would take less time than traveling on foot, but, as Rayla had explained, they might run into tidebound elves, who didn’t like anyone in particular. 

Rayla put her bedroll down while Corvus cooked dinner. Ezzran was sitting on a log, petting Bait, looking at Rayla when he thought she wouldn’t notice, but she did. _What’s he up to?_ She didn’t want to talk to him though. She was afraid of broaching certain sensitive topics.

Despite her own wishes, Ezran did want to talk to her. Though he was young, he saw the strain she was under and he still considered her his friend. “Rayla, can we...talk?” Ezz had walked up to her, Bait trudging along. 

Rayla continued making her bedroll on her knees. She sighed and didn’t look up. “It’s better if we don’t.” She was blunt, didn’t feel the need to pretend she didn’t know what this was going to be about.

“Rayla, your suffering. Anyone can see that.”

“What’s there to say!?” She looked at him now, eyes filled with a mixture of fear and panic, emotions she was trying to bottle up with all her might. “A killed yer kin, yer own brother! And Am sorry, but A had to! It was ma duty, it was-”

She was interrupted as Ezran knelt down and hugged her strongly. She was briefly surprised by the boy's strength and the intensity of the hug. “It’s okay Rayla. It’s okay. If you want forgiveness, you have it. But I believe you, you did what you had to do.”

“A...A did?” Rayla struggled with her thoughts, but eventually just accepted the hug. It had been so long since anyone had hugged her. She felt her walls break, and tears brimmed her eyes. 

“Yes. Callum had gone bad. He was evil when he attacked the spire, I saw that.”

“Wait, how did ya ‘see’ the attack?” Rayla backed off Ezran so she could look him in the face. When their eyes met, Ezran looked away, like he was hiding something. 

“I-I can’t tell you. Not yet anyway. But it’s part of the reason why I want to see the dragon queen. I’ll explain when we get there. Anyway…” he looked her way again. “I’m still your friend. I want you to know that.”

Rayla didn’t really know what to say to that, so she nodded. “That’s … all very grown up of you Ezz…” she mumbled. 

Ezran smiled boyishly. “You’ve got to grow up a little if you want to wear the crown.”

“Are you two ready for bed?” Corvus approached them, having finished his perimeter check. The other two replied they were. “Good. Rayla, you take second watch. I’ll take first, if that’s alright with you.” 

“Not a problem. I rarely sleep long these days anyway.” She lied down with a smile, again hiding what she truly felt. 

“Good.” Corvus smiled, then turned to the king. “Is there anything you need, your majesty?”

“Well actually…” Ezran asked Corvus to tell him some of his adventures as a soldier for a bedtime story. Corvus hesitantly obliged. 

Rayla tucked herself in and turned her back to them, hiding her tears and emotions as she drifted off into sleep. 

-/-/-/- 

Soft clouds drifted through a warm, orange sky. The clouds were all around her. It was a strange sensation. She couldn’t see the ground beneath her. She couldn’t even feel her feet. The ground felt a bit bouncy. She felt like she was walking on those clouds.

Rayla shrugged, and walked on. She felt unconcerned with the fact that she was walking on clouds in a featureless sky. Her mind was vaguely aware that this could be a dream, but there was nothing that triggered her, nothing that sought her attention, so she just kept on walking in a daze-like state. Eventually she came upon a tree that appeared out of the mist. And below it sat a familiar figure.

“Wait….Callum? Is that you?” Rayla instantly felt like she was fully awake and only now realized how bizarre the lack of landscape had been. 

“Hi Rayla…” Callum weakly put up a hand and waved a bit, but otherwise stayed seated where he was. He was holding his sketchbook on his lap, as he tended to do while they were resting when traveling together. 

Rayla noted that Callum looked healthy, completely unlike the corrupted form he had last time. She took a careful step forward and looked around, but couldn’t see anything besides Callum and the tree. There was no sign of danger or anything else. “...tis a dream?” She asked, still scanning the mist and clouds around them. 

Callum shrugged. “Probably, yeah.” 

She then focussed on Callum, looking a bit sad. “Oh...okay.” She slumped down next to him and leaned against it, closing her eyes.

“Why the sad face?”

Rayla didn’t open her eyes when she answered him. “I just wished you were real, that’s all.”

Callum blinked. “I’m not?”

She gestured to their surroundings without looking. “Nah, if this is a dream, then you’re just a figment of my imagination. You come up quite a lot in my dreams actually, though this time, you definitely look better.”

Callum looked pensive for a moment, and seemed to check the pages of his sketchbook. “And...what would you do if I were real? If I really was here with you, in this dream?”

Rayla still didn’t open her eyes. “You can’t. You’re dead. And even if you aren’t, you’re under the control of that sleezy raven-haired scunner.”

“Yeah...about that….” 

Now Rayla did crack open her eyes. She observed Callum for a moment. Up until now she was fully aware that this was a dream, and she was content to just wait it out until she either woke up or slipped back in unconsciousness. However, she felt too awake right now, like the realm she was in was too real. And Callum didn’t react like the Callum she was used to from her dreams either. In her dreams, she either remembered their most beautiful, intimate moments, or their terrifying last confrontation. This was neither. 

She sat up straight and away from him. “What’s going on here Callum?”

“I’m in your dream. I was hoping we could talk.”

Rayla stood up and backed away even more. “No, no you can’t be here! How can you be in my dream!?” A sudden thought struck her. “Was that you who put me in that nightmare last night? Did Claudia send you to torture me!?” 

Callum flinched as she attacked him verbally. He tried to remain calm. _I don’t want to push her away. What do I do?_ He glanced in his sketchbook, then slowly answered her questions. “I want to tell you my story about what happened, and answer any questions you might have. To answer your previous questions, yes, I accidentally put you into a nightmare. I wanted to talk to you and hoped that the Storm Spire would be a good dream location because you live there. But I lost control of the dream. And I’m not doing this because of Claudia. She doesn’t even know I’m out of my coma, or that I’m not charmed anymore either.” 

Rayla did her best to process all of that. “...put me in a nightmare? And you were in a coma, but you’re not charmed…? What’s this all about!?” 

Callum saw Rayla’s lack of backing away any further as a good sign. “I’ll tell you. We’ve got time. Do you want to...sit next to me?” He patted the patch of cloud-grass next to him. 

She hesitated for a second. She remembered her fight against Callum and how cold and cruel he had been in his corrupted form. But a part deep inside her still longed for Callum. She wanted more than anything that this was really him. “...alright.” Very cautiously she sat down next to him, but not too close. “Alright, I’m here. Tell your story then.” 

The wary looks she was giving him didn’t help Callum with his nerves. He had prepared the whole speech, but all the words seemed to slip from his mind as he searched for them. “O-okay… let’s see… Do you remember the night we had that argument? A-about…” Callum gulped. “...me cheating and you wanting me to use dark magic?” 

It was as if Rayla frosted over. “Yes.” she simply said, but her body language spoke volumes, mostly that this was stuff she really didn’t want to talk about.

Callum hurried on, hoping that when she heard the rest, she would warm to him a bit more. _At least let us be friends again!_ A tiny voice in his heart cried out. “Well, I was mad. I was furious! I flew out of the spire and into the woods to calm down a little. Turns out that Claudia was there, together with a few cultists. I later found out that they had been watching the Storm Spire for a couple of nights to make a plan for the attack.”

This surprised Rayla. “They were that close? And we never noticed them!?” 

“Dark magic is powerful Rayla, and Claudia has become a true master to it.” Callum looked glum for a second. “I talked to her briefly. She wanted me to join them, but I refused. Then, she wanted one last hug, because we were friends once, you know?”

Rayla’s expression turned from frosty to concerned. “Callum, was that when…?”

“Yeah. I fell for it. The minute I was in her arms, she cast some kind of charm spell on me.” He was silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. When he spoke again, his voice was thick with emotion. “I remember most of what had happened, but to me it feels like I wasn’t even there. I had no control over myself Rayla. You must believe me! The things that I’ve done… the things that she made me do…” Callum looked disgusted. “And it wasn’t just dark magic either. She was lonely. She wanted...she wanted me to be her boyfriend.” This time, Callum closed his eyes. “I might have actually cheated on you Rayla. Without me being able to do anything about it.” 

“That’s not true! If you couldn’t do anything about it, then that’s not your fault!” Rayla was quick to defend Callum. She very much wanted to believe his explanation. “It’s really that scunner Claudia who’s abused you. It must have felt horrible…” 

“Hmmm, at the time it didn’t. But afterwards? Once I got control back over myself? I felt horrible about what I’ve done. I still do.” When their eyes met, Rayla could see that Callum was crying. “Rayla, I’m so sorry about Bosor. A-and Ibis, and the others…. None of them deserved that!” 

Rayla bit her lip. She hesitated, but eventually leaned forward and pulled him into a hug, following Ezran’s example of that night. “It’s alright. There’s nothing to forgive. It wasn’t you.”

Callum was startled by the hug, but accepted it gratefully. “I-I know, but still. It WAS me! Everyone thinks that it was me!” 

“Then we must show them that Claudia is the real villain!” she said resolutely. “She can’t hide forever. As soon as I’ve dropped Ezran off at the dragon queen, I’ll-”

“Wait, you’re with Ezran now?” 

“Oh, yeah, well, that’s a bit of a story, but he has a plan to talk to the dragon queen to get a new king, seein’ as the current one doesn’t really want the war to end.” 

“Oh!” Callum let go of her and stared off, thinking of everything that might mean. “That’s brilliant! That means that there is hope!”

Rayla smiled carefully, glad to see him smiling again. “Well, we need to get there first, AND get the queen to agree to help us AND find a new dragon king. It’s a longshot.”

“Wasn’t our first journey the same?” Callum moved his hand on top of hers, but she stiffened at his touch and withdrew, looking away quickly. An awkward pause followed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, it’s not you.” Rayla interrupted him. “Or maybe it is. It’s just that… I killed you, you know. I’ve seen so much… and now you’re back and....I don’t know how to feel about all of that.” 

Callum didn’t reply, but looked at her. _She looks lost…_ He really wanted to hug her, for multiple reasons, but he was mature enough to recognize she needed space. “That’s fair,” he replied at length. 

It was silent for a while. Callum leaned against the tree, occasionally glancing in his sketchbook. Frowning, he closed it and put it away. Rayla said nothing either, seemingly lost in thoughts. She broke the silence first.

“What are you going to do when you wake up?”

Callum shrugged. “I’ll probably talk to Zeron. He’s the one helping me learn to control this dream spell.”

“Zeron!? He’s not eavesdropping is he?” Rayla didn’t like Zeron at all. The shapeshifting dragon had tortured her in her dreams after all. 

“Maybe? I don’t think he means any harm though. He called me stupid for getting involved with Aureli. He said I shouldn’t have been so naïve.”

“On that we can agree.” 

Callum smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I get it. I’m just...not good with that kind of stuff. The point is, he is helping me sort things out on my end. I think he wants me back on my feet so I can help end the war.”

Rayla crossed her arms. “Hmpf.” She had to admit that Zeron was probably the best suited to help Callum right now. The mysterious dragon seemed to have a good grasp of magic and politics. He had been mostly friendly to them in their last encounters. But she also remembered how cruel he could be. _He gave me nightmares, and threatened the nobles at the caravan. Still, his intent was mostly good, even if his methods aren’t… well, as long as he helps Callum._ Rayla saw that Callum was just looking at her, still smiling. “What?”

Callum wanted to say something sweet. That he was admiring the view, or that he was glad for the two of them to be together again. But even if he didn’t mean it romantically, he figured that this would probably push her away. Even he had to get his bearings. They had been separated for a long time. “Nothing. I’m just feeling good for the first time in forever.”

She smiled at that. “I’m glad.” The clouds around them were turning brown, and the light was fading. It was subtle at first, but Rayla noticed the difference. “What’s happening?”

“The dream spell is ending.” Callum stood up, and Rayla did the same. 

“So…”

“So…”

The light was almost gone, the clouds obscuring the both of them. They could barely see their faces. 

“Do you want me to cast the dreamspell again tomorrow?” Callum hoped he didn’ t sound too desperate. 

Rayla bit her lip, thinking quickly. “Give me a bit more time. Maybe in three days? I’ve got a lot of stuff to think about.”

Callum nodded. He figured she might say that. The clouds had nearly covered them completely now.

“It was good to see you again though!” Rayla called out. Her voice echoed like it carried across a vast distance. 

“Yeah, it was…” came the reply. 

Rayla couldn’t see him anymore, but she imagined him smiling as he said that. 

-/-/-/-

“So, how did it go?” Viren watched as the two figures came out of their trance, Callum laying on the bed while Zeron sat on the ground in a cross legged position. 

“I think the young man did well enough.” Zeron said. 

Callum sat up and looked around awkwardly. “I mean, she didn’t completely push me away…” He didn’t know how to feel about it. He was glad that he and Rayla had a real conversation, but he had hoped for more and was somewhat disappointed that it didn’ t turn out that way.

Viren looked between the two. He recognized that the two men seemed to have a friendly bond, but that didn’t explain why Zeron was so eager to help the young man. _A being as old as this dragon must want something. What is it that Callum has that Zeron needs?_ Viren wasn’t eager to get Zeron involved to begin with, but he saw no other option; Callum needed help getting himself sorted after his resurrection. Viren felt that he was the wrong person to give him that guidance. He wasn’t here for Callum to begin with. He was there for Claudia, to see if he could change her path. “So, what are you going to do now?” 

Callum looked at Viren when he was asked the question. “Well, I dunno… I…?” He looked at Zeron for support, but he just stared back. “...well, we need to stop the war. I mean, from the looks of it, Claudia is going to attack soon, isn’t she?”

Viren frowned. “I think so, yes.” _The boy is perceptive._ The cult of the True Light had been hoarding ingredients and weapons for the last few months. It was likely that Del Bar’s armies would attack either Xadia or the human kingdom’s that were weak because of Xadia’s attack. However, Viren wasn’t privy to his daughter’s council anymore, so he could only guess. 

“I would try to talk her out of it, but I guess she is just going to charm me again.” Callum turned to Zeron. “Do you know of a defensive spell against that?” 

Zeron shook his head. “We don’t have the time for that. And I don't think I can stay here long undetected with that mystical creature around.” Zeron’s eyes shifted towards Viren. 

“Indeed not. Perhaps you could retreat to Del Bar Callum? There is a council there of great mages. They seem to take a more...neutral stance towards this war.”

Callum did not look convinced. “I don’t know...That feels like hiding, when I should be helping…” Callum wanted to say that he should be with Rayla. However, he wasn’t sure he should push for that right now. _She did say she needed some time…_ He figured that if he couldn’t focus on her, then he should focus on his little brother. It meant that he’d be going in the same direction anyway. Having made up his mind, he declared his intent to Zeron and Viren. “I think I should be where my brother is. I should help the king of Katolis.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Viren asked skeptically. Your capital is besieged, and most people still think that you sided with the True Light. Even your countrymen will want you dead, considering you started this war when you were charmed.”

“I know...but I have to try.” Callum turned to Zeron. “Can you help me get to my brother? I’d fly on my own, but I’m still pretty weak. I’m sure that with the help of a dragon, I’d make it there safe and sound.”

Zeron smiled. “I’ll gladly help you. However, to be fair, there is a catch. If I help you now, I want a favor from you that I can call in later.” 

Viren sighed. _Here it is.._

“A favor? What kind of favor?” Callum was a bit surprised by this. Zeron had never asked his help before.

“I do not know yet. But I want your word that if I help you now, you will grant me that favor. Even helping you just now was more of a demonstration that I could. If you accept, I will get you back to your brother and teach you what I know of magic along the way.” Zeron had his eyes locked on Callum, smiling slightly. Both Callum and Viren tried to read his face but found him very hard to read.

It was a hard choice for Callum. _He could ask for anything! Maybe even something bad. But… so far, he’s been trying to help people, even if he’s a bit ruthless at times._ He sighed. _I need him, there’s no way around it._ Seeing no other way out, Callum put his hand forward. Zeron grasped him by the wrist. “Alright, I accept.”

“Excellent. Then let’s get going. Claudia will be here in a few hours, and we really should put some distance between us. Do you have anything you must absolutely bring with you?”

Callum looked around the room. “I don’t know. As long as I have my sketchbook with me, I’ll be fine I guess.” 

Viren picked up the cube from the ground. “You shouldn’t forget this. It is a family heirloom after all.” He handed the cube to Callum. As he did, he noticed that Zeron’s eyes were focussed on the cube. His face seemed a bit more tense. _Does he know something about the cube that I don’t?_

“Thanks Viren. I guess that’s it then. Let’s get going.” Both Callum and Zeron stood up, but Viren stopped them before they could leave the room.

“Wait. Before you go. First of all, this is for you.” Viren took a scroll out of his robe and handed it to Callum. 

Callum took it and inspected it. It had the seal of the dragonguard on it, but it was already broken. “What is this?”

“It’s a letter from the elf. Rayla I believe her name was. It was addressed to you, but I’m afraid Claudia didn’t take your privacy very seriously. You should read it in any case.”

Callum frowned. “Did you read it?”

“I might have...skimmed across it for a bit. There is nothing for me there. Do not worry, it is already out of my mind.”

“....right.” Callum was unconvinced, but stowed the parchment inside his coat. “And the other thing?”

“Well, I could not help but notice how upset you were when you looked into the mirror.” Viren said, gesturing at his appearance. Callum touched his face unconsciously as he did so. “If you keep practicing dark magic, the corruption will only get worse. You can hide it with an illusion, but you can’t get rid of it. Atleast, that’s what I thought. However, I was briefly taken captive by the sunfire elves. They had the Sunforge, a great source of power that collected the power of the sun. The sunfire elves could use it to clean away the corruption.”

Callum immediately brightened up. “Then that’s where I should go first!”

Viren held up his hand. “Problem is, when I came through Xadia with my army, we needed to sunfire elves to let us pass. When they would not do so, Aaravos corrupted the sunforce, plunging their entire city into chaos.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. It seems that my actions have made your life more difficult. You will have to find a way to cleanse the Sunforge first.”

This news immediately dampened Callum’s mood, but Zeron put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’ll find a way. I’m sure of it. Now let’s get going.”

And with that, Callum and Zeron left the temple of the True Light, leaving Viren alone to confront his daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here’s the next chapter, a little later than I’d like, but what can you do. We’re having a busy weekend over here as the holiday season has started in the Netherlands. Despite all the anti-covid measures, we’ve had a decent time together and that’s all that counts. 
> 
> The story continues and our favorite pair are finally trying to find a way back together. The next few chapters will have more and more Rayllum, just the way I want it. As always, I hope you’ve enjoyed the story, so thank you for reading!


	4. On the wings of time

“You did WHAT!?” 

The tension in the room was palpable. The guards in the room shifted uncomfortably as their old leader, Viren, confronted their new leader, Claudia. The news of Callum’s escape came as a shock to the guards as well. Was he not part of their organisation? Wasn’t he one of the most talented dark mages in the world? Why wouldn’t he want to be a part of the True Light!?

None of this mattered to Claudia however, who went all out against her father. “You...you...you…ugh! Why did you let him go!? You said you would help me! You said you would look after him!”

“And I did!” Her father shot back. “I took care of him while he was under and I was there for him when he woke up. And he seemed much better now that he wasn’t under your spell anymore!” 

Claudia pressed her lips together. She narrowed her eyes and balled her fists. “Guards, wait outside please.” 

The guards quickly excused themselves, glad to be out of this situation. The room was empty now, save for the daughter staring down the father. The silence was deafening, but neither of them looked away. 

Claudia spoke as soon as the guards were out of earshot. “I charmed him for his own good. He had to see things my way, see that I was right. If he would get used to using dark magic, eventually the charm wouldn’t be necessary anymore.” 

Viren raised his eyebrows. “Really? That was your plan? And you didn’t see any issue with that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, don’t you think it’s wrong to toy with his consciousness like that?”

Claudia bristled. _The nerve! How dare he!_ “Wrong?! You think that’s wrong!? What about when you tricked the entire Pentarchy into a meeting? Or when you tried to assassinate them when they wouldn’t listen?”

A dark look crossed Viren’s face. _How did she find out about that?_ She was an intelligent woman though. He didn’t put it past her to have put together the pieces by herself. “That was different. I did that for the whole of humanity. Who’s idea was it to charm the prince anyway? Was it Aaravos?”

Claudia crossed her arms defensively. “He might have given me an idea or two...”

Viren grunted. “Just two? He gave me many ideas when he was my ‘little bug pal’. I can’t say it ended well for me.”

“Perhaps you were not the dark mage you thought you were.” 

“And you are?” 

“I am ten times the mage you were dad, a hundred times! I pulled this country back together with my magic. I slew the great sun dragon in Xadia! And I will complete the Heart of the Dragon so we can defeat Xadia once and for all!”

Viren saw his daughter standing there, feet apart, her staff in her hand. She looked defiant. But even in her defiance, he saw nothing more than a rebellious teen. _She’s doomed to fail. I must stop her._ “No, you can’t. And even if you could, Aaravos is just using you. You must see that! I’ve told you before! Why won’t you listen to me!?” 

“Why should I? You failed dad! You’re a failure! And instead of trying to get better, to do more stuff with dark magic, or to rule, you’ve just...just withered away!” Claudia was on the verge of breaking. Tears were brimming her eyes, though she was desperately trying to hold them back. “And now I’ve lost Callum too! I need him back… I can’t do this alone!” 

Viren’s hard look softened as he saw his daughter crying. Despite it all, she was still his precious, little girl. “You don’t have to. You can abandon this path you’ve chosen. You can come with me.”

Claudia shut her eyes, a single tear running down her face. But when she opened them, her eyes held the same fury they did before. “No.” 

“Claudia…” 

“No! All you do is break things! You broke our family, you broke our kingdom, and now you’ve broken whatever hope I had of being with Callum!”

Viren was stunned. She had never spoken to him like this. He recognized that she was now projecting all her anger and hatred on him. Part of him wanted to be stern, to lecture her as a father, but another part also felt like he deserved it. “Claudia… “

But Claudia wouldn’t listen. She gripped her sunstone staff tightly and stepped towards her father, pounding the buttend of the staff to the cold stones with each resolute step. “You pushed away mother! You split me and my brother appart! You let Callum get away! This is all your fault!” 

Viren was stunned into silence. For the first time in his life, he did not know what to say anymore.

Claudia looked at her father. In him, she now saw the sole object of everything that was wrong with her life. She had made her decision. “Go. Go back to Del Bar and never come back.”

“Surely you can’t mean tha-”

“Oh, but I do! If I ever see you again, I’ll turn you into a coin, same as those elves. That would be the only thing you’re still good for…” Without breaking eye contact, she snapped her fingers, opening the doors to the hallway. Before Viren could respond, four guards had already walked in, ready to do her bidding. “Please escort my father to the edge of the city, and make sure he doesn’t get in again. He is no longer part of the True Light and is not welcome anymore.” 

The guards looked shocked, but they recognized who had won the power struggle. Viren looked like an old man; deflated, tired and defeated, while their mistress looked more furious and powerful than ever. 

With one last look at his daughter Viren turned and left, leaning heavily on his staff as he exited the building. 

Watching her father go, she called out to one of the guards who had remained behind. “Assemble a team of mages. They have a mission of utmost importance. Find Callum.”

-/-/-/-

It was the dead of night when the riders reached the rocky outcrop. The two mounted travelers stopped and quickly tied their horses to a nearby tree. The tall man ordered the boy to make camp, and then walked around in a large circle around their spot, muttering an incantation and drawing a large, intricate continuous rune through the air. Once it was completed, the men and horses disappeared from sight. 

Callum sat down, done with laying down their beds and making a fire. He had wanted to ask about the spell Zeron just did, but right now he was just too tired to bother.The path through the desert had been rough and took its toll on Callum. He had asked for a break several times, but Zeron would not have it and pushed on. 

Once Zeron was done with the spell, he sat down beside Callum and tossed him a small package, wrapped in leaves. “Eat.”

Callum opened it. Inside was a foul-smelling, breadlike substance. He wrinkled his nose. “What is this?” 

“Bread soaked in gravy, then set to dry. There’s cheese in there somewhere as well. It’s quite nutritious.”

“I don’t suppose we have any-”

“We don’t.” 

Callum was taken aback by Zeron’s snippy comments. He was silent for a while, trying to munch away on the bread. He looked at his travel companion, wondering if he would start any conversation, but Zeron just sat there, staring at the flames of their small campfire. With nothing else to do, Callum grabbed his sketchbook and started sketching for a while, but despite this distraction, the silence remained uncomfortable. Eventually he just couldn’t take the silence anymore and spoke up. 

“So, what are you thinking about? I assume you’re thinking, because you’ve been staring in those flames for a long time, and I don’t really think you’re asleep because your eyes are open and-”

“I’m awake.” Zeron didn’t move, but his eyes flicked in Callum’s direction. “But you should get some sleep.”

“But you were going to teach me magic! And we’ve done nothing but ride a horse all day!” 

“Callum, it’s time to grow up.” Zeron said sternly. “You’re in a war. In some ways, your involuntary actions have caused this war. All your strength and focus should be devoted to fixing that.”

Callum tried to look Zeron in the eyes, but couldn’t. _He’s right..._ Callum thought. _I come back to life, I have a second chance, and what do I do with it? Try to contact my girl-_ He stopped at that thought, realizing he was spiraling in childish feelings of sadness. _No, what am I thinking? I was trying to do something good. Fixing things with Rayla will help us all. It will just take time. And it’s up to me how to use that time._ When he looked back up at Zeron, there was a resolve in his eyes that wasn’t there before. “Belt, I want to cast the dreamspell again tonight.” 

Zeron was startled when Callum called him by his first name, but only for a moment. “I thought Rayla told you to give her some time. Have you forgotten that so quickly?”

“No, of course not! But I can use it to contact someone else, like my little brother! Or-or the dragon queen!” Callum thought that this dreamlike magic was a novel way to cross vast distances and deliver messages. _It could give us a big advantage!_

But Zeron seemed less optimistic. “That’s good thinking, but you are still too weak for that. You can’t even use your wing spell right now. Save your strength. Getting you to the dragon queen is paramount. That’s where your brother will be. That’s where Rayla will be.” Zeron looked back into the flames. “That’s where the future of this war will be decided.”

Callum deflated. He yearned for contact with the ones dear to him now that he had the means, but Zeron had a point. He was still recovering. Viren had warned him about that. _I just hope that I’ll get stronger quickly._ To prove a point, he drew the rune of a small wind spell that he had mastered long ago, producing a gust just big enough to blow out a candle. He still felt the drain on his energy. 

“Don’t do that.” 

Callum frowned, irritated that Zeron was lecturing him. “Well, what am I supposed to do then!? I can hardly just sit here and relax while my friends are in danger!”

“And yet you must. Relax, lie down. Read or draw to pass the time. Now, be silent and let me think.” Zeron resumed staring in the flames, ignoring Callum completely. 

Callm lied down on his sleeping back and looked up to the stars. He thought back of his travels through Xadia with Rayla. She would point out the constellations to him. They were morbid. All the constellations were about Garlath the Destroyer, and the many weapons he had and what he did to his enemies. Even so, it was nice talking to Rayla back then. _I wish I could go back to that moment. I wish I could talk to her…_ Suddenly he remembered that while he couldn’t talk to her, he did have something that was most likely written by her. _The dragonguard scroll!_

He rolled over and grabbed his stachel, pulling out the scroll from the dragonguards. The seal was already broken. He had hoped for some personal message in the scroll, but, knowing that Viren and Claudia had likely read its contents, part of him hoped that it wasn’t too personal. He unfurled the scroll and started reading.

_My dearest Callum…_

As the letter went on, Callum was overcome with emotions. She still loved him when she wrote this! He felt elated when he read her kind words and apology, felt saddened to hear that she got kicked out of the dragonguard, but he also felt despair when he read about Icra and Bosor, knowing that both were killed during the attack at the Storm Spire, Bosor by his hand. 

Once he was done with the letter, he read it again, just to make sure that he didn’t skip anything. It felt good to read something of hers. When he was satisfied, he carefully rolled up the scroll and put it in his cloak. 

Exhausted and overwhelmed by all the emotions, he let himself fall on his sleeping bag. Still thinking about Rayla and all the things he wanted to say to her, he drifted off into a deep slumber.

-/-/-/-

“Goodmornin’!”

Both Corvus and Ezran were shaken awake by a very cheerful looking moonshadow elf. Corvus got up and immediately got to work, disassembling their camping spot so that no one could find a trace of their stay. Ezran just sat up and pushed the wrinkles out of his traveling clothes while bait nudged against him for attention. “Hey, it’s alright Bait. Sleeping outdoors like this is good for you!” Bait croaked in a complaining manner, causing Ezran to sigh. “Yeah, I’m hungry to. I’m sure we’ll get something to eat when we reach the coast though!”

“Actually, I might be able to help with that!” Rayla gave Ezran a small satchel. As he opened it, he saw that it contained a small pile of moonberries. 

Ezran smiled broadly. “Waoh! That’s great! Thanks Rayla!”

Rayla giggled at his enthusiasm. “You’re welcome.” 

“We didn’t really pack food because it was supposed to be a short trip from village to village. The only thing I did pack were jelly yards, but I’m trying to make those last.” Bait raised an eyebrow and croaked. Ezran looked offended. “What? I’ve only had two so far! I still have lots and lots! I just hope they won’t go stale too soon…”

As Rayla watched the antics between Ezran and Bait, she wondered if she should tell him about her dream, about Callum. _I don’t want to give him any false hope… What if Callum is still stuck up there? Or what if it was just a dream?_ But her heart had already told her that this wasn’t the case. _If he was alive, then he has the right to know…_ She had made the mistake before about not telling them of their father’s death. She could make that right now by telling him his brother was alive. “So, Ezran…”

Ezran looked up, a bit surprised that she used his full name. “Yeah?”

“I...there is something that I should tell you.” She sat down next to him.

Ezran was a bit on guard. He thought that she was acting very un-Rayla like right now. “O-okay?” His mind was racing. He tried to think of anything bad that she could tell him. The thing wasl most of the bad stuff that could happen had already happened. “Is something wrong with Zym!?” He blurted out. Zym was one of the few beings he had a close relationship with. He did not want to lose him!

“Wha- Zym? No, the prince is fine! It’s not about that!” She looked at the startled king and had to smile a bit about how worked up he got. “Don’t worry. It’s actually good news...I think?”

“Well, alright. So what is it?”

Rayla took a deep breath. “I think that...Callum might be alive.” Her eyes shifted between the ground and his eyes, not quite sure where to look.

Ezran breathed sharply between his teeth. He was not expecting her to say that! “What do you mean he’s alive? I saw you kill him! And that was alright! I mean-” He saw the hurt look on her face and regretted he brought it up. After frantically searching for the right words, he just gave up. “I don’t understand!”

“Ezz, it’s alright. We talked about that. The thing is, I’ve been gettin’ these dreams. But they’re not normal dreams. I can actually talk to Callum in them.” She saw his skeptic look as she said the word ‘dream’, but continued before he could interrupt. “There is a spell where you can enter someone’s dreams. Zeron used it on me in the past. It looks like Callum is trying to master that spell now.” She refrained from mentioning that it went horribly wrong the first time. 

Ezzran remained skeptical. “Are you sure it wasn’t just a dream?”

“I’m very sure. It was totally different from my usual dreams. We really just...talked about stuff. Callum told me that Claudia cast a spell on him. That is why he attacked us at the Storm Spire.”

Ezran thought this over for a bit. Eventually, a smile broke through on the young king’s face. “My brother is alive!” He shouted. He jumped up and did a happy dance, grabbing Bait and just holding him out while he twirled in circles. “Callum’s alive!” 

The joy Ezran sparked was infectious and Rayla started smiling and laughing as well. She was glad she told Ezran now and she found that thinking of Callum no longer made her feel sad or depressed. _Yeah… this was the right thing to do._

Corvus walked up to them, attracted by the noise. “What’s all this then?”

“My brother is alive! Rayla saw him! She talked to him!” Ezran said, jumping up and down. Bait started to change to a sickly kind of grey and burped.

Corvus turned to Rayla. “You did? When? Where is the prince?” 

“Oh, I...think he’s still stuck with the cultists. Though, Zeron is with him. If he hasn’t escaped by now, I think he will soon.” She didn’t know for sure, but she couldn’t imagine that Callum would willingly stick around there now that he had his own free will back. 

Corvus took the news calmly. “Then there’s nothing we can do but hope that he will make it back to Katolis safety. Now, for our journey, we’re going to commandeer a ship in the fishing village down the coast. There is a problem though.” He looked pointedly at Rayla as he said that.

Ezran calmed down some. “What? What’s the problem? I’m the king right? I’m sure they’ll listen to me.” 

“If you go there as king, then word will reach the castle soon that you’ve escaped, so we should use fake names and either buy a ship or steal one. The problem is; one of us is an elf, and we’re at war with elves.”

Rayla blinked, then smiled broadly. “Ah, I see. But not to worry!” she said as she grabbed her cloack and gloves. “That means it’s time for….human Rayla!” Once she had stopped twirling, her hood covered her horns and her gloves somewhat obscured her missing fingers (though it looked like she had broken both pinkies at an odd angle). “How ya doing, fellow humans, human fellas!”

Ezran clapped. “Yeah! I love human Rayla!”

Corvus facepalmed and looked at his king. “Do you really think this is a good idea my liege?”

“Yeah, of course.” Ezran said, nodding. “We did it twice before! The last time, we all got on a boat and the captain didn’t suspect a thing!” 

Corvus sighed heavily and shrugged. “Alright then… let’s get moving. The sooner we make it across the sea, the better.” Shouldering the pack, he started ahead of the group, scouting the area for any danger.

Following a little ways behind, Rayla turned to Ezran. “Did you mention to him that the captain of that boat was blind?”

Ezran grinned. “Must have slipped my mind.”

-/-/-/-

The next morning, Callum woke up to a deep, rumbling sound. “Oh, come on…. I was just dreaming about-”

“Do tell.” A deep, rumbling voice said.

Callum shot up straight and opened his eyes. There in front of him sat an enormous black dragon. Various curved horns adorned his head and bright, blue, pupiless eyes watched the young boy with curiosity. “W-w-who are you!?” Callum exclaimed, backing up against the rocks.

“Make an educated guess.”

“....Zeron?” 

The dragon seemed to grin. Callum found it hard to read his face though, with all those _teeth!_ “You catch on quick.” The dragon rumbled. “You slept well I take it?”

“Y-yeah! You’re a dragon! H-how did you do that!?” Callum already knew that the human he got to know as Belt and the dragon known as Zeron were in fact the same person; Belthasar Zeron. But he had never seen the dragon before in person. He had only Rayla’s description to work with. Callum found that in real life, the dragon was more impressive and daunting than he had imagined.

The dragon smiled openly at his question, showing all of his razor sharp teeth. “Let me keep some of my secrets. I will teach you something else in time. But for now, time is something we do not have. With Rayla having abandoned her mission, King Aureum Umbra will attack as soon as possible. I’m going to try and delay his attack, giving Rayla and Ezran time to complete their mission.”

“Alright, sounds good…” It was honestly a good plan, but he felt a bit lost in it all. “What should I do then?”

“Make your way to the Storm Spire. You’ve rested long enough now, so you should be able to use some magic, including that mage wing spell of yours. But don’t overdo it. I would be very cross if I had to scrape you off the ground only a day after you’ve escaped Claudia’s clutches.”

Callum smiled. “Yeah, no thanks. I’ll stay alive. I want to see my little brother again. I want to see Rayla.”

“I understand that feeling. I feel the same.” The dragon stood up and stretched. “The Storm Spire is four days of flying east of here. You’ll cross Duren. Don’t be tempted to stop there. The place is a wrecked with the terrors of war. I’ll meet up with you at the border to Xadia.” 

Callum nodded. He had no idea how Zeron would know where to find him, but he no doubt had his ways. “Alright, I’ll see you then!”

The dragon grumbled and crouched low before shooting up in the sky. He circled the area before heading south towards Katolis, Callum’s home. 

As the dragon departed and Callum prepared for his own journey, he could not help but shake the feeling that Zeron was hiding something. _What kind of favor does he want from me? And what did he mean just now with ‘I feel the same?’_ He figured that a lot of things about this human dragon would remain a mystery for him. 

-/-/-/-

“Bluegh!” Corvus and Ezran looked at each other and snickered as Rayla retched over the railing for the third time that day. They had managed to find a ship that morning and had set sail straight away. It was a small ship, certainly not as big as the Ruthless, but it was large enough for the four of them.

“Rayla really doesn’t like water, huh?” Ezran said to Bait as he gave his favorite pet some back scratches. Bait croaked in a confirming matter. Corvus just shook his head and stood at the rudder, steering the ship. 

“Ugh, why oh why do I put myself through this?” Rayla muttered to herself as she stared at the horizon, gripping the railing in case her legs felt wonky again. She knew the answer to that perfectly well. They had to stop the war. But Rayla really felt that when they were done with that, she deserved a big holiday. Considering the dragon king would likely banish her for her actions, she might as well plan ahead for a permanent one. _Maybe I’ll trek across the continent, or find a nice cozy spot and live out my life there, like Lujanne._

Sme smiled at that thought. She didn’t want to be alone though, and found herself hoping that Callum would be there in that future. _Ach, Callum, what do I do about you…._ She harboured so many feelings since the attack. It was difficult to place them all. _Do I really want to give it a chance again? Or will I just call it quits, cut my losses why I still have some dignity left?_ She didn’t want to get hurt again after all. But as her thoughts swirled around the subject, she found that she couldn’t imagine a future without him. In the weeks she believed him to be lost or dead, her life had seemed hopeless. But now that he was alive and back to normal again, her heart stirred and longed for him like it used to do. It was confusing, but reassuring at the same time. 

Suddenly, something in the water attracted her attention. _What was that?_ She squinted and leaned over the railing. She saw something shimmer beneath the waves, before breaching it and jumping in the air.

A small, whitish form jumped up from the sea and let out a loud squeal before dropping back again. Corvus rushed to the railing next to Rayla, abandoning the rudder for now. “What was that?”

“I dunno about that, but I do know what those are.” she answered, pointing to the large fins that were coming their way from a distance. “Sharks!”

The small creature jumped again, lower this time, but still high enough to let out a squeal. It sounded like a long, sad, wailing sound. Now that Rayla knew where to look, she was better able to discern its features. It looked a lot like a seal, but it had something long and thin on top of its head. “A nacoro!” she exclaimed. 

“What’s that?” Corvus asked.

“It’s basically a kind of sea unicorn. They’re very rare, but they’re supposedly still around.” Her eyes flicked back to the shark fins. “This one won’t last much longer though.” The creature breached the waves again, letting out a pleading wail.

“WE’VE GOT TO SAVE HER!” 

Corvus and Rayla both turned around, surprised at Ezran’s sudden outburst. “What do you mean Ez?”

Ezran was on the verge of panic as he rushed towards the railing. “There’s no time to explain! They almost have her!” He looked in the water where the creature was keeping chase with the boat, and back to the shark fins who had caught up and were trailing the boat a few feet away.

Corvus looked helplessly across the railing, not sure how he _could_ help. “But my king, there’s nothing we can do. This-this is nature. That’s just the way-”

“You don’t understand!” Ezran turned to Rayla. “Please! You saved Bait once! Please save her as well!”

Az Rayla looked into Ezrans panicking eyes, she knew she was in for it. There was no way she could say no to his pleading. But more than that, she trusted him to have a reason for this, and to ask her to do the right thing. _But why does the right thing have to be me jumpin’ in that horrendous liquid!?_

As she glanced back at the water, she knew that she didn’t even have time for a snarky comment. The sharks were basically nipping at the creature's tail. Without a moment's hesitation, she jumped in the water on top of one of the sharks, knocking it on the head with the butt end of the blade. Immediately the shark was stunned and struggled to swim away. The other shark ignored her, swimming past her to take a bite out of the delicious little sea creature, but Rayla managed to put her hook around it’s tail, dragging her along.

The creature jumped up out of the water and flopped against wood, it’s little flippers slamming against the side of the ship. Large, brown eyes looked up helplessly as it kept squealing and wailing. 

“Quick! We must get it on the ship!” Ezran said, pointing towards the creature. Rayla had slowed down the sharks, earning them a few precious moments, but they had to act fast. 

Corvus weighted the situation. He had a hook and chain, but throwing the hook at the creature would definitely injure it. _That elf just jumped in without a moment's hesitation… perhaps I should follow her example._ Sighing heavily (and quietly wishing that he had become a simple hunter instead), he unfastened his hook, latched it on the railing and jumped in the water. The small creature immediately came up on him. Corvus actually had to back away a little to evade the thin, sharp looking horn. 

“Don’t move! He’ll help you!” Ezran shouted down to the creature. It seemed to understand him and soon stopped moving. Corvus pulled the creature next to him. It was the size of a dog. He put one arm around it and pulled himself up on the chain with his other arm. He grunted from the effort it took him. _This is one heavy fish-thing!_

Meanwhile, Rayla was still struggling with the other shark. Both hooks were on its tail right now, and she was trying everything to slow it down. The shark tried to shake her off. When that didn’t help, he just swam straight up to Corvus, ignoring the extra weight. Rayla wanted to blurt out a warning but was unable to because she was under water. _Oh for Garlath’s sake!_ She pulled herself up on the back of the shark. Just as it was about to reach Corvus, mouth wide open, she put her hook in the right-corner of its mouth and pulled. The creature made a sharp turn right, missing Corvus and throwing Rayla off it’s side. 

Ezran was cheering. “Yes! You got it! Now, quickly, come on board before the sharks get back!”

Corvus had hoisted himself up and flopped the creature over the railing. It flopped around excitedly and immediately went up to Ezran. 

“Ho, easy there! You’ve got a sharp horn haven’t you? Don’t worry, you’re safe up here.” The seal-like creature nudged herself against Ezran, still shaking from the ordeal. It let out a few squeaks as it looked up to him. Ezran’s eyebrows shot up. “What, really?”

“Eh, guys? A little help here?” Rayla was still in the water. She just saw Corvus disappear up on the boat, but as she looked behind her she saw a shark fin rapidly approaching her. _Ah daft...._ She held one blade at the ready, really not wanting to kill anything, but she’d rather kill this creature than be its dinner. 

Just in time, the chain fell down in the water next to her. She took hold of it. “Alright, now pull me up!” Both Ezran and Corvus pulled on the chain, but it was too late. Just as she was about to be pulled up, the shark surfaced, mouth wide open. 

“Oh, no you don’t!” Having been lifted a little bit out of the water, she used her boot to kick the shark away. It immediately went back for a second strike, but by that time Rayla had already been pulled back up. 

Back on the boat, Rayla let herself fall on the deck and closed her eyes, trying to think of anything but water and the carnivorous creatures in it. _Why me? Why is it always me who has to do these darin’ rescues!?_ She turned her head and looked at Ezran, who was softly stroking the creature. “I hope that was worth it.” 

“Oh, trust me.” Ezran said as he eyed the incredibly cute, one-horned creature. “It definitely was.”

-/-/-/-

Dragons were flying through the sky, trying to get close to the castle. Once in a while, a dragon would scoop down to the castle walls, only to fly up again as ballista bolts were shot at them. 

On the ground, the elves were approaching the castle walls. Archers were firing arrows at the humans, who were returning their fire. Neither side had taken any losses yet, though many soldiers already had knicks and scrapes. This was the skirmisher fase, where they were testing each other's strength. The real battle had yet to begin.

As Zeron flew over the scene, he surveyed the scene before descending towards the Xadian camp from where the dragon king was watching the skirmish unfold. He landed behind the king, who paid little attention to the new arrival. 

“So you’ve come to join us at last?” The king asked without taking his eyes off the battle.

“In a way…” Zeron moved to sit next to the king. There was a visible size difference between the two, Zeron being much smaller than king Aureum Umbra. However, in some ways, Zeron looked more daunting and sinister than the dragon king ever could.

“Tell me, Zeron. What news do you bring?”

“The other human kingdoms are preparing to strike. None are powerful enough to take on Xadia as is, but…” He nudged his head towards the skirmish taking place. “Should your assault on the castle go badly, then the other human kingdoms will see this as an invitation to strike.”

The dragon king grumbled. It was an unpleasant sound. “Well, let them come then. We will burn them to cinders!” 

“You will try, but you are wise enough to realize that such words are empty threats if you no longer have the power to back them up.” Zeron watched with some apprehension as he saw one dragon narrowly dodging a balistabolt. The people of Katolis were doing very well with keeping the Xadian army at bay so far. “Fortunately for you, I have a solution.”

This time, the king did take his eyes away from the battle and stared down at the smaller dragon. “Then say it!”

“Stop this attack. Keep up the siege for another month. If you do that, then by the end of the month the war will be over.”

“Stop the attack!?” The dragon king roared. “Why would I do that!? Xadian soldiers are laying down their lives as we speak! They are to destroy the bastion of those who have killed Avizandum!”

Zeron remained calm, despite the king's outburst. “If you stop the attack now, you will keep your army intact. That means that the other kingdoms won’t be able to strike for fear of you striking back at them. It keeps the balance of power intact, and it will give me time to move my pawns behind the scenes.”

The dragon king seemed furious, but said nothing for a while. He looked towards the castle again, where he saw one dragon being clipped by a ballista bolt. The dragon screamed in pain and had to make an emergency landing. “One month?”

“One month.” Zeron affirmed. 

“And what exactly will you do that will end this war in our favour?”

Zeron looked away, not planning on revealing anything. “That will depend on how successful my pawns are. My methods are my own. But I’ve always been successful, have I not?”

The king grunted an affirmative. As Zeron stood and made to leave, the king stopped him with his claw. “What is in it for you?” The dragon king looked at the black dragon suspiciously. He had helped them plenty in the past, but always for favors, and Zeron’s motives had always seemed dubious.

“A ceasefire will give me time to get certain affairs in order. That is all you need to know.” 

Slowly, the king nodded and let go of the black dragon. “Very well. One month. Not a day more.”

As Zeron sped away, he could hear the dragon king roaring and barking orders. The Xadia assault had been halted. _That’s one…._ With speed, the dragon flew towards the north-east, in the direction of Duren.

-/-/-/-

A horn sounded from the front of the army. It meant that the vanguard had spotted something, possibly an enemy. Queen Aanya spurred her horse onwards, her advisors and protectors following close behind. She rode up next to one of the corporals leading the vanguard. “What is it?” 

“We have spotted something. Might be an elf.” He pointed across the grasslands in the direction they were riding. There, in the middle of an empty field, stood a brown, robed figure. 

The young queen tried to discern the figure from this distance. “That looks like...ambasador Zeron?”

“Should we attack?” 

“Let’s surround him first, but be cautious. King Ezran said that he was a powerful dragon.”

The corporal looked at her with disbelief. “But… he looks humanoid.”

“Tricks and magic…” Queen Aanya said as she spurred her horse. The rest of the army followed her lead. 

Within seconds, the army had reached the figure and had surrounded him, the hundreds of soldiers all brandishing their bows, pointing them at Zeron. Queen Aanya rode up so she was within speaking distance. “Ambasador Zeron. What brings you here?”

“War, and the possibility of peace.” He took off his hood, revealing his face. “You ride to come to Katolis’ aid?”

“Why would we tell you that?” Queen Aanya challenged him. “We’re at war. If you have something to say, say it.”

Zeron frowned. He remembered the young ruler being sharp of tongue. “Then this is what you should know. The dragon king has delayed his attack on Katolis Castle by one month. There is no need for you to attack the Xadian army right now.”

“Why would the dragon king do that? Our scouts reported he was going to attack!”

“Perhaps he has changed his mind? Perhaps he will hope that the people will surrender after some time.” 

“Then we should definitely attack now, while the soldiers of Katolis still have the strength to fight!” 

“If you attack the Xadian army, then Neolandia will strike you in the back.”

This gave the queen pause. _I’ve pulled my entire army out of my country to help king Ezran. If Neolandia would attack us now, there’s no way the guards back home could defend our cities!_ Still, she didn’t know if Zeron was speaking the truth, even though she did read the reports that Neolandia was preparing its army, and had been for many weeks now. 

Zeron saw her hesitation and closed his eyes. Queen Aanya was startled when she heard his voice inside her head. “Consider that though king Aureum Umbra wants to see the human race annihilated, there are many who have other priorities. I have bought us all some time. Use it wisely.” Speaking out loud, he said; “If you attack, you will have no siege weapons to back you up against the dragons, and the army of Katolis might be unable to get their ballistas in position in time.” 

Queen Aanya did not reply, but after a few moments, she slowly nodded, secretly glad that Zeron gave a reason to delay the attack that the soldiers could understand. She turned to her general. “We ride to the Katolian border. Have scouts confirm that the attack indeed has stopped. If so, we will withdraw for now.” The general saluted and relayed the orders. The army broke up the formation and turned westward. Queen Aany rode up next to Zeron, looking down at him. Ice-cold blue eyes peered into hers, giving her the chills. “And what will you do, ambassador Zeron?”

“Depends on what happens next. With any luck, all of this will be over soon and I finally get to go home.” He nodded to the queen as a sign of goodbye and walked eastwards as the army passed him by.

 _Home...what would that be for him?_ Queen Aanya watched him go until the rear of the army had caught up with her. One of her protectors urged her to get moving, lest they lag behind the army. “Yes, you’re right. Let’s go!” She spurred her horse, turning her head to take one last look at the strange human-draconian ambassador of Xadia, but he had already vanished.

-/-/-/-

It was the end of the third day since his departure from the bastion of the cult of the True Light. Callum sat down underneath a tree in a green valley near the border between Duren and Xadia. There were clear signs that the Xadian army had come through this area. All the villages he passed were burned down. But this secluded part of the valley had remained untouched and provided a welcome place to stay for the night.

Callum stretched his arms. He had started flying short distances the day before, and today he had managed to take several long stretches of flight. _It will only take me a day or two, three at most, to reach the Storm Spire now._ His heart pounded with excitement. Not only because he was close, but also because tonight he would attempt the dreamspell again. 

Looking around, he found that there was not a soul in sight, and the valley seemed to be sleeping. The only sound that could be heard was that of the occasional birds or the crickets performing their night orchestra. _Perfect._

Callum laid down and closed his eyes, his hands making the movements, drawing the runes using the star arcanum. Focussing on the flow of the arcanum energy, he felt the dream spell take effect and pull him into a deep slumber…

When he next opened his eyes and sat up, he found himself on a cliff, high up on a mountain. It was chilly, the mountain peaks around him were covered in snow. In the distance he could see the elven ruins of the lunar nexus. Behind him, he could hear the steps of someone approaching, but this didn’t surprise him, giving the circumstance.

“The cursed caldera? Did you choose this on purpose?” Rayla walked up towards him and stopped a little distance away.

Callum smiled at her and shrugged. “It felt like a good place to be. Many good things happened here. This is where Zym was born!”

“Yeah!” Rayla smiled, but her smile faltered. “T’is also where you found out about your stepfather though.”

Callum stood and walked towards her, closing the distance. “True… but, this is also where you comforted me when I couldn’t tell Ez…” He looked into her eyes and saw the same twinkling he suspected he had himself. He held out his arms to her. “It’s good to see you Rayla.” 

She smiled back at him carefully. “It’s good to see you too.” Stepping towards him, she completed the hug. As she embraced him, she could smell him. The familiar scent of Callum, mixed in with a tiny bit of a smell coming from his scarf. “Ew, did you have to make the dream _that_ realistic?”

“I’m just going with what I can remember.” He leaned back, looking at her face, but he immediately felt self-conscious. _Is this too close for her? Is this still alright?_ He quickly let go and looked away, trying to suppress a blush. 

Rayla felt a bit perplexed that he let go of their hug so suddenly, but as she saw him blush, she had to stifle a giggle. _That’s cute… guess I’m not the only one sturglin’ with my feelings._ Feeling brave, she took a hold of his hand. He looked at her in surprise. “Shall we sit down somewhere?”

“Y-yeah, that’s a good idea.” 

Together they walked along the mountain for a bit, passing various ruined places that they could remember from when they were here. After a short walk they settled on one of the benches, the same one where they had first hugged all that time ago. Callum seemed to pick up on that thought as he pointed to the bench. “This one?” 

“Yeah. Good spot?”

He smiled. “Good spot.” 

They sat down.

“So…” 

“So…”

Callum looked around, trying to find something that he could use as a stepping stone to the next bit of conversation. “Do you wanna...talk about the weather first? Or…” He left the question hanging in the air. They both knew what they were here to discuss, and though Rayla had time to process how she felt about Callum, he himself could only guess. _What if she just wants to stay friends? Or not even that?_

“Callum, it’s okay. I wanna talk about it.” She smiled carefully, also feeling self conscious. 

“Oh, okay.” He swallowed. “So…?” 

“Callum… I’m still not clear about everything. But, havin’ said that… I still get butterflies when I think about you. I still feel that there’s somethin’ between us.”

“I’m so glad to hear you say that!” Callum exclaimed. He smiled broadly, feeling elated.

“Thanks, but you should let me finish.” She saw his face change from happy to guarded and somewhat regretting saying that. However, she wanted to be honest with him, even if it hurt. “What we had before that b-” she breathed deep, not wanting to spoil the moment with rude words. “What we had before you were kidnapped is damaged. Too much has happened. It might have started a little earlier actually, when you were studyin’. Your letters became distant, and then you came back all guilty about that you might have cheated on me, and after that you disappeared. And when I saw you again, you-” Her face contorted with pain, but she saw that Callum’s did the same. “No. Not you. But _she_ made you do those things. She made you torture and kill my friends. It's...tough to look at you and not be remembered about all that.” 

His heart sunk in his chest as he looked to the ground. “I see.”

Rayla immediately knew what went through his mind and tried to intervene. “No, you don’t. I _want_ to be with you! I want to work for it! There’s nothin’ in the world that I would want more! But I’m being honest here; it’s goin’ to be hard.” 

When Callum looked her in the eye again, he didn’t look so sad anymore. He was guarded and protective of his feelings, but his mind managed to get a hold of his raging emotions. _She is right. I’ve done a lot of damage, even if I didn’t want to, even if maybe, it was not my fault._ “I...think I understand you.”

“Good.” And with a smile, she gingerly put her hand on his and was rewarded with a smile by him as well.

They were silent for a while, but it was a comfortable silence. They now both had a certainty of a possibility of something between them. Everything considered, that was a miracle on it’s own. 

“You know, there were times during my travels these last few days that I feared you had given up on me.”

“Really?” This surprised her. “Well, I can understand that, given our last meetin’. To be fair, part of me really wanted to give up on everyone you know? Put up those walls, don’t let anyone near you so you don’t get hurt, that kind of crap. But, I just can’t do it. That’s not me. I care too much.” She snickered. “That’s why I jumped into the water a few days ago. Ezran insisted I save some poor creature.”

Callum smiled, then blinked. “Wait, you were on the water?”

“Am still! We’re sailing. We’ve left the Weeping Bay yesterday and are halfway across the Gulf of Tenebris, keeping north of the Spinning Sea of course.”

“That’s very brave of you Rayla.” He deadpanned, thinking of all the times she was terrified of water.

“Don’t I know it.”

“So, what happened? Why did you have to jump in the water?” Callum leaned forward, honestly interested in what Rayla had been up to these last few days.

“Well, there was this wee little creature swimming along the ship, tryin’ to escape the sharks. I thought it was done for, but it squealed and Ezz wasn’t havin’ any of it. He practically ordered me to jump in the water and save it!”

That made Callum double over with laughter. “Oh man, my little brother has become a real king, bossing people around.” 

“You can say that again! So I pummeled those sharks in their noggin’ and dragged the poor critter out of the water. Turns out it was a nacoro, a sea unicorn!”

“Wow, really!?” Callum was all ears. He had heard of the legends of unicorns, but he had never heard of sea unicorns before. “Can it do magic?”

She rolled her eyes at that. _Of course that’s the first thing he would want to know._ “Maybe. This one’s real little though. But here’s the special part. Apparently, this nacoro is a ‘princess of the sea’, or so your little brother said.”

“Oh, he’s been talking to it hasn’t he?”

She nodded. “You bet. Apparently it was lost and wants to get back to Xadian waters. Since we’re going the same way, she has asked if she could stay on our ship. It’s a cute little bugger, so of course me and Ezran said yes! Corvus has been a bit of an arse about it, but Ezz is over the moon. We’ve dubbed her Cuddleface, cause really, she’s so cute!” 

Callum had to laugh. It was obvious she was a little bit in love with this creature. “That’s great! So how long until you reach the Storm Spire?”

Rayla leaned back as she thought of an answer. “Hard to say. Traveling by boat is a lot faster. With any luck, we can take a river land inwards and save us a hell of a lot of time walkin’. I’d say a couple of days at least, maybe a week tops.”

He nodded. “Alright. I’ll probably take two or three days. I’m at the Duren border to Xadia now.”

“That’s great! Though, you should probably stay out of sight until we arrive. You know, given that the last time you were here…” She didn’t finish the sentence, not wanting to repeat out loud what he had done, but Callum got the message.

“Yeah, no worries. Zeron is supposed to catch up with me. We agreed to meet up at the border, so I’m staying put until I see him or he finds me. I’m sure he’ll vouch for me or something so that the dragon queen won’t immediately eat me.”

“Iew!” Rayla snickered at the thought. Callum laughed with her. 

Both were enjoying their casual banter, feeling more at ease with each other. It felt as if things were returning to normal and that was a feeling that the both of them welcomed with open arms. They talked some more about their travels and compared them to when they were still traveling with the dragon egg. Time flew by, until the sky eventually started to change colour, from black to a deep blue, with light creeping over the horizon.

“Wow, have we really been talkin’ that long?” Rayla smiled as the light cast a golden outline of the mountains at the horizon. It was a beautiful sight. 

“I don’t know to be honest. I don’t know how time works in dreams.” Callum had no idea if the dream was about to end or not, only that they had been here a while now. He suddenly turned to her, his eyes betraying an urgency he tried to hide. “When will I see you again?”

Rayla pondered the question for a moment, then turned back to him with a mischievous smile. “You know what, I’ll leave that up to you.”

He grinned boyishly at her. “Alright then.” He thought he saw her blush faintly as he smiled at her. _I hope I didn’t imagine that._ Trying to ease the tension that was building up, he sighed and leaned back a little, staring at the horizon. 

She bit her lip _Dare I…?_ She looked at her friend as he stared off at the imaginary mountains of their memories. “Callum?” 

He seemed surprised that she addressed him again. “Yes?” 

Saying nothing and hesitating only a little, she leaned over and kissed him. She felt him breathe deeply through his nose as her lips met his. She scooted closer, wanting to embrace him.

Just as they were about to get entangled in eachothers arms, she suddenly felt herself be pulled away from him roughly by some unseen force. “Wha-!?”

Callum upended his eyes, still stunned by the kiss, but his eyes widened as he saw Rayla floating in the air, drifting away from him. “Rayla!”

“Callum, what’s going on!?” She kept on drifting in the air, going upwards faster and faster. 

“I-I...I don’t know!” He tried to draw a rune and cast a spell. “Lac filio!” But the spell didn’t take effect. 

“Callum!” 

When he looked up, he saw her float up high in the sky until she turned translucent and disappeared. “Nononono… Rayla!” He had no idea what was going on. He panicked. As he did, he felt that something inside of him was going wrong as well. _I’m losing control of the spell again!_ “Rayla, where are you!” 

The ground underneath him suddenly split and swallowed him whole. Callum fell and flailed around, trying to grab something, _anything!_

As Callum trashed about, trying to get back to his senses, he was startled as two hands grasped his shoulders and shook him fully awake. He looked up and saw the cold, blue eyes of Zeron looking down upon him. “Well, that didn’t quite go as planned, now did it?”

-/-/-/-

Rayla woke up with a shock as small, soft hands tried to shake her awake. “Rayla! Quick, you’ve got to help us!”

“Wha!? What is it!” She sat up and looked at Ezran. _He looks frightened._ “What’s going on?” 

“I don’t know! It’s like all the sea animals are mad or something! Please, come quick!”

Grumbling, Rayla got out of her cot and grabbed her swords. _Whoever is responsible for disturbin’ my dream is gonna pay dearly for it!_ As she walked out of the hold, she felt the ship shift and sway. Dark clouds had gathered above them, and a strong wind was blowing across the deck. _Are we in a storm?_ However, as she got to the railing, she saw something so strange that she couldn’t believe her eyes at first.

The sea was foaming with the number of sea creatures that were swimming in it. Sharks, whales and fish of all kinds, large and small. She even saw a familiar looking sea serpent hopping out and in the water! As she looked to the other side of the ship, she saw the same. _They are circling the ship!_ She turned to Ezran. “Where is Cuddleface?”

“She’s scared, so she’s still below deck with Bait.” The last thing Ezran wanted was for Bait to fall in the water right now. 

Rayla turned to Corvus, who was at the rudder, trying to steer the ship. “Corvus, can you sail us out of here!?” 

“What do you think I’ve been trying to do!?” He exclaimed, looking frantic. “It’s no use. Those sea creatures are swimming around us, creating some kind of whirlpool. We’re stuck sailing in circles for now.

Suddenly, the boat lurched and rocked from side to side. Corvus and Rayla exchanged concerned looks. “What was that?” 

“Look!” Ezran shouted, pointing towards the railing. Dark figures were climbing on the ship. They were humanoid, but of bluish skin tone with fins and gills. They carried strange weaponry consisting of hooks and tridents. A dozen of these figures swarmed the boat, causing Ezran and Rayla to back up towards Corvus, who had abandoned the rudder and had his hook-and-chain at the ready. 

One of the figures stepped forward. The figure had some kind of helmet on his head, made from shell and bone. It spoke to them. “Gef onse die prinssesje.”

The figures made no other movements except to stand there expectantly. “What did he say?” Corvus asked, hoping Rayla could make sense of this. 

It took Rayla some time to process what had been said. She recognized the tongue, but she was certainly no expert at it. “They’re tidebound elves. I think they want us to give them the prinses.”

“Oh no…” Ezran was terrified, as he looked towards the entrance of the hold, hoping Cuddleface and Bait would be safe.

-/-/-/-

All the ingredients were gathered in the courtyard. The ingredients were arranged in a circle, set upon stone tables, but the giant, bleeding dragonheart took up most of the space. It still sat in the cart that they had used to transport it all the way from the Xadian border. Claudia had used up all of the illusion feathers in her possession to keep them from getting spotted on the way back. _It will all be worth it,_ she thought. _With this, we can create the legendary primal stone. With it, nothing can stop me. Not those dragons, not the elves, not even my stupid father. They will HAVE to listen to me._

In the centre of the circle stood a pedestal. Upon it rested a crystal ball, pale and translucent. Claudia stood in front of it. Many cultists had gathered for the ritual. They were curious what all their effort had accumulated to. 

She held out one hand towards the stone, focussing on it. The other she held out to one of the ingredients. Taking a deep breath, she started the incantation. “Aqua in industria. Ut virtus aquae.” The ingredient began to glow and dispersed in bright spots of golden light. They swirled into the air and entered the crystal sphere, making it glow slightly with the energy within it. 

Claudia took another step further, one hand still focussed on the sphere, the other on the next ingredient. “Terra autem industria. Terra est virtus.” The same process happened again, and she took another step forward, changing the incantation to correspond to each different arcanum. “Lunam in industria. Ad virtutem lunae.” 

There were many ingredients, and Claudia slowly made her way through the circle, changing each ingredient into energy and pouring that energy into the crystal ball which was glowing brighter and brighter. The audience around her were reverently silent, watching their mistress practice this ancient and sacred form of magic. 

After a few minutes, Claudia had completed the circle. Drops of sweat had formed on her brow because of the focus she had to keep. But she had done it! The first part of the spell was complete. All the ingredients were now absorbed by the sphere. But there still was no way to use all that power. 

She turned towards the dragonheart, carved from the body of Sol Regem by the cultists. She closed her eyes and recalled Callum’s notes on this part of the spell. _Normally, these primal stones were blessed with the magic of unicorns or dragons. That’s what bound the power to the stone and enabled others to use it. But without the blessing of a dragon, it’s heart will have to do._

With both hands now outstretched towards the dragonheart, her eyes turned to black orbs of power and the air around her crackled with energy as she incanted the dark magic spell that would pull the magical force out of the heart and bind it to the primal stone, acting as a catalyst for the energy and completing the ritual. “Nogard a fo traeh eht dleiw dluow ohw lla yb desu eb ot rewop eht laes. Nihtiw rewop dercas eht dnib, nogard eht fo gnisselb eht htiw!”

The dragonheart glowed dark purple, before turning black. As the energy was sucked into Claudia’s hands in streams of dark-purple, the giant heart turned ashen and started to disintegrate. Claudia whirled around and thrust her hands in the direction of the pedestal. The energy she was holding shot towards the crystal sphere and twirled around it, coating it in a layer of strangely colloured energy. The sphere darkened but pulsed with power, like it had it’s own heartbeat. Suddenly it grew bright. With a flash, the energy was absorbed and the ritual was completed. 

Claudia blinked, and slowly stepped towards the crystal ball. It pulsed, displaying various different collours each time. “The heart of a dragon…” She gingerly took hold of the crystal ball. Immediately she could sense it’s power. She held the ball upwards and tried to remember a spell that sounded impressive. _We’re in the desert. How about...flowers?_ “Florum crescunt!” She waved her hand to the ground. All around her, flowers sprung up, pushing the sand aside. The crowd was amazed and applauded.

“Brothers and sisters, the Heart of a Dragon has been created! With it, we will crush Xadia! Not the elves, not the dragons, not even those human traitors from Duren and Katolis will be able to stand in our way!” The crowd roared. Claudia turned around to one of the cultists that was in charge of the army. “Prepare the army. Tomorrow, you will leave for Xadia. If the Duren army tries to stop you on the way, we will crush it together!” 

The cultists bowed, one fist to his chest. “Your will, my mistress.” He turned to the rest of the crowd. “You heard the lady! Everyone, prepare your students, prepare the soldiers! Tomorrow, we march!” 

The crowd vacated the courtyard. After some time, she was the only one still there. Well, besides the creature hidden in the shadows of course. 

“Very impressive Claudia. The humans really love you.” Aaravos’ bug form emerged from underneath a roof where it had hidden, watching the ritual unfold. 

“The spell worked, that’s for sure!” Claudia was giddy with excitement. _I’ve done it! I’ve succeeded where you failed father! I have the Heart of a Dragon now!_

“Yes it did. Now, please, cast the spell we’ve discussed.” 

Claudia frowned. “Are you sure? I’ve never practiced the spell before. It seems dangerous.”

“You’ve never done that ritual before either, and you did it perfectly. I trust in you Claudia. You are the true mistress of dark magic.” The creature moved in front of her and crouched down, preparing for something. 

_Oh, now you’re just buttering me up._ The compliments had the desired effect though, boosting her confidence. “Okay, here goes nothing,” she muttered as her eyes turned black once more. “Rutnenimreg ,sireulou ,eratum!” The spell was complicated. It was star magic turned dark. The primal stone glowed in her hand and provided her with the energy as she transferred it to the bug creature. It glowed brightly and began to grow a little bigger, but then it stopped. 

Claudia was confused. _Did it work? Or did I do something wrong?_ Just as she was about to call out, she heard something tear. 

The bugform twitched and shuddered, the limbs all curling inwards. It’s back split open, and another bug-like creature slowly crawled out of it. It was a horrifying sight. The slimy limbs twitched as they tore out of its old form, the new wings flapping and twitching, folding and unfolding. Claudia felt nailed to the ground, unable to escape the ghastly visage. When the creature finally was fully out of its old skin, it’s face was visible, an odd mixture between bug and elf, with long, sticky white hair and large, bulging eyes. It now had four arms and its claws seemed somewhat more like hands. It’s wings had multiplied. Instead of two large wings, it now had six smaller ones. Free from its old form, Aaravos stretched and opened its mouth. “Ah, glorious, isn’t it?” 

Claudia blinked, startled that she no longer heard his voice in her mind, but actually through her ears. “Eh...sure! It’s awesome! You look awesome!” 

To her surprise, Aaravos laughed heartily. “You don’t have to be polite. I know how disgusting this form must be to you.” he said as he looked at the old shell he had just crawled out of. “But it is necessary. Now that the bug has reached its final form, it allows me to do this.” He drew a sun rune in the air and stretched out his claw towards the husk. It immediately went up in flames. 

“You can cast spells now!” 

“Indeed. In this form, I am nearly as powerful as I used to be.”

“Right! So, what are we going to do? Shall we help the armies conquer Duren and Xadia?” Claudia was glad. She felt like despite all the hardships they had endured, they finally had the power to make a difference, to make the world a better place.

But Aaravos shook his head. “Not yet. The stone is complete, but that and this form are just another stepping stone. To fully regain my powers, you must help me free myself from my prison.”

“Oh, but that should be easy!” She said, holding up the primal stone. “With this, we can blast through anything, physical or magical! Kabooosh!” She made explosive noises with her mouth. 

“Perhaps, but neither of us know where my prison is, exactly. But fortunately, I happen to know of an object that can help us in that matter. The last time I saw it, I stored it away in my private sanctum.” 

Claudia groaned. _More steps…_ To her it felt like the road to triumph was getting longer and longer. But she had tried her own way before and that didn’t work. She figured it would be best to help Aaravos now. _I just hope that in the long run, it pays off._ “So where is that sanctum of yours?” _Please don’t be far!_

Aaravos smiled, the half-humanoid, half-bug face making the smile all the creepier. “In the ruins of Elarion.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp! We’re back into lockdown! Sorry for the delay everyone, there was just some stuff I needed to do first because of that. 
> 
> I’ve gotten a lot of amazing responses these last few chapters. Thank you all for that! I hope I can keep delivering the same quality consistently. I’m looking forward to writing the next few chapters. They are going to be a lot of fun!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! Please let me know what your thoughts are!


	5. Written in the stars

“Gef onse die prinssesje.” the tidebound elf repeated. The elves were all casually holding their weapons, but their stance betrayed that they were on guard and were ready to use them on a moment's notice. 

“Why should we give you the princess?” Rayla replied in common. Her human friends were still perplexed by the sudden appearance of the tidebound elves. 

“Jijsa habben prinsessje ornappie.” 

The strange dilect was starting to piss Rayla off. She was aware that tidebound elves were known for their own strange langauge and rituals, but she also knew that they all had a common language, of only because they all the elven tribes traded with one another. “Speak common for Garlath’s sake! Yer not makin’ this any easier.”

The tidebound elf who had spoken so far scowled. “What? Can’t we not speak our own tongue?”

“It’s giving me a headache. Why do you want the nacoro?”

“Because you took her!” The tidebound elf shook his trident for emphasis. “The whole sea is in uproar! But now we’ve found her, and we’re going to bring her back.” 

Rayla grimaced. _There’s no way I can defeat the lot of them._ She was pulled out of her thoughts as Ezran lightly tapped her arm, calling for her attention. He whispered something in her ear. She looked hesitant at first, but nodded. “Alright, we’re going to bring the prinses up. But no funny business!” 

They all waited as Ezran went down below deck. Rayla and Corvus had their weapons drawn, as had the tidebound elves, but neither made any threatening moves so far. The sea around them still swirled with the sea creatures that accompanied the tidebound elves. The tension was palpable. 

Then a flopping sound could be heard. All eyes swiveled to the stairs leading to the cargo hold. Out of the dark stairway hopped Bait. As he saw the strange elves looking at him, he changed into a shy, purple colour and croaked defensively.

“Ah, naa! Wa horrid! They’ve changed the prinses into a horrible creature!“ The tidebound elves were getting ready to attack in a fury, but Rayla scolded at them.

“Really!? Are ya all that daft!? That’s Bait, our pet! Look!” She pointed to the stairs, where Ezran walked up, guiding Cuddleface up the stairs. As soon as the tidebound elves saw her, several of them went on one knee. 

Ezran and Corvus were stunned. Ezran, still standing next to the nacoro, addressed the tidebound elves. “So, here she is, but we-”

“This be proof ya took our princess!” the tidebound elf interrupted him. “Give her to us, or we kill you!” The mood seemed to darken as the elves advanced threateningly, their weapons pointed at the trio. 

“We didn’t take her! We saved her from sharks!” Rayla took a step back, trying to block any surprise attack on Ezran. _Somethin’ doesn’t add up. Why are they so aggressive?_ She knew the tidebound elves were a weird bunch, but these somehow seemed...weirder.

Some of the tidebound elves seemed a little more hesitant, apparently not clear about the situation. The leader looked at Rayla, and then at the small creature that was the prinses. “Ya know what? We tidebound elves can understand all the sea creatures! We can just ask her!” He handed his trident to another elf and slowly walked towards the nacoro, kneeling in front of her. “Oh majestic one, what happened to ya?”

The small creature flopped and squealed excitedly. Ezran smiled, feeling relieved. But then the tidebound elf stood up, murderous rage displayed on his face. “Da prinses say you liars! You kidnapped her!”

Rayla gritted her teeth. “What!? No, we didn’t, we-” 

“You are the liars!” Bellowed Ezran, now full of rage himself. “She didn’t say that! She said she was just swimming when she got lost! She did tell you we saved her from sharks!” The fire coming from Ezran’s eyes was enough to stun some of the elves into silence. If there was one thing Ezran couldn’t tolerate, it was liars. 

The tidebound leader opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to have difficulty finding the right words. “Ho-How do ya know that?” He mumbled softly. 

“Because I understand her!” Ezran said, stepping next to her and putting one hand on her soft, fluffy fur. The creature crooned and nuzzled against him. She tapped him with her horn, which started to glow. “Whats this?” Ezran asked, looking curiously at the glowing horn. As she tapped him, the glow seemed to envelop him. It felt warm, and not unpleasant.

Now the tidebound elves were beside themselves. “She has blessed da dirty human!” “She has chosen a human over our company!” “What shame! What do we do now?!” 

The leader swung his arm. “Silence!” Turning to Ezran and the group, he said. “Alright, so ya can speak with her. But she is still child, might not know the difference between friend and foe.” He motioned at the other elves and the sea creatures around them. “We take ya to our place. There, da Deep One will decide” 

Rayla, Corvus and Ezran looked at each other. Each of them knowing they could not fight against such a group, let alone the creatures in the sea around them, they understood their best bet was just to play along. Slowly they nodded, uncertain of the strange turn their journey had taken.

-/-/-/-

“…and then she was sucked in the air! I tried to use the sky arcanum to pull her back, but the spell fizzled, and then she disappeared!” Callum was breathing heavily. He hoped that Rayla would be alright. 

Zeron thought for a bit. “Sounds like someone woke her up. It's not something I would be too concerned about, to be honest.” He tried to calm Callum down, but the man saw that the teen was still distressed. “Did...something happen in the dream?”

Blood shot up to his cheeks when he recalled the intense kiss he had gotten so suddenly in his dream. He didn’t expect her to do that, because she said she needed time and space, but evidently she was in need of him, just as he was in need of her. Zeron didn’t need to know that though! “Ehm, nope, nothing at all!” The man’s eyes seemed to pierce through him, and Callum sincerely hoped that he could keep up the pretense. 

Eventually, Zeron just shrugged and stood. “Well, it's a good thing you are awake.” He took off his cloak and stretched. “I suggest you get up quickly.” 

Callum groaned. “Right, right, I get it. We need to cross the border to-” 

“No, it’s not that.” He said as he flexed his arms, then drew his sword. It was a long, thin blade. While it looked fragile, Callum knew that it could be incredibly deadly, having seen the dragonguard Kiyara both train and fight with it. “We’re about to be attacked.”

“What!?” Callum stood up and looked around. 

“Over there, two cultists.” 

Callum looked in the direction where Zeron was pointing, but he could see nothing but trees and foliage. He watched as Zeron traced a purple rune and spoke an incantation. “Magicae disjunctione.” A purple haze pulsed outwards. 

As the purple haze passed through the foliage, two figures flickered into existence. They were earring dark robes, but their grey faces and streaks of white hair through their beards revealed them to be dark magic users. They looked confused as their illusion flickered and faded, then snarled at them. One drew a short sword, the other seemed to grab some components. 

“Magic will be difficult to use for a while. Try to improvise.” Zeron moved forward, sword swinging. 

“What do you-?” But Callum shifted his focus as a cultist approached him, holding a piece of squid. That told him everything he needed to know about what spell the cultist was going to use. 

The cultist stretched his arm and spoke. “Nwod meht gard, psarg gnihtirw.” The tentacle appeared and shot towards Callum, but then fizzled into smoke. The cultist looked mighty confused.

Callum had an inclin of what was going on, but decided to test the theory, just to make sure. “Aspiro!” He quickly drew the rune and tried to spell, but he felt like his connection with the Arcanum was weakened somehow. There was a gust of wind, but it was barely enough to make the trees move. He realised that the spell Zeron cast to dispel the illusion probably had some lingering effect. “Right, so no magic then.” He looked to see how Zeron was doing, but he was clearly pushing the cultist to the defensive, having already inflicted a few cuts. 

The other cultist abandoned his attempts at magic and rushed towards the young man. Callum judged that the opponent would try to tackle him, so he crouched and jumped out of the way at the last possible second. The cultist rushed past him and stumbled, but recovered quickly and approached Callum again.

 _Alright, he’s bigger than me, and probably stronger… that just means I’ll have to outsmart him!_ Callum stepped backwards, into the foliage. He spread his arms, pulling the branches back with him. The cultist stepped forward briskly, holding out his hands, trying to grab Callum by the scarf. 

As the cultist closed in, Callum released the branches, causing them to snap back into his attacker’s face. “Aargh! Why are you-!?” With the attacker momentarily stunned, Callum backed away into the foliage and searched for something, _anything_ that could help him. _A stone, a branch, I don’t care! I need a weapon!_ His heart pounded in his throat as he heard the attacker moving again behind him. He found what he thought was a rock and threw it, only for it to crumple halfway through the air. The cultist palmed it before it hit him. 

“Master Callum, why don’t you just- urgh!” The next thing Callum threw was an actual rock, and it hit the cultist in the forehead. The cultist rubbed his head and looked up, wanting to make sure that the young man didn’t get away. He was surprised when he saw Callum running towards him however, swinging a big stick. It collided with a sickening crunch. 

Callum felt the adrenaline pump through his system as he watched the cultist crumple to the ground. He raised his branch for a second hit, but hesitated when the cultist begged for mercy. “Please master! We’re just here to take you home!”

Doubt entered Callum’s mind. _He’s already down…_ “Do you surrender!?” 

“But-but master, the mistress, she’ll-”

They were both interrupted as a gut wrenching scream sounded through the valley. Both of their eyes switched to Zeron, who had just ran through the other cultist with his sword. The man flopped lifeless to the ground. Zeron turned towards them and walked, swinging his sword through the air to get the blood off of it. 

The cultist grabbed Callum’s ankle. Callum was startled, afraid that he had let his guard down and that the cultist would stab him or something. But instead, the cultist just looked up to him with pleading eyes. “Please master! Don’t let that demon kill me!” 

Zeron stopped next to Callum, who still had his branch raised in the air. “Well?” Zeron pointed to the man with the tip of his sword.

Callum looked at the man, then back to Zeron. “I-I can’t...he’s harmless, he’s…” 

Zeron looked at Callum curiously. The cultist moved, trying to crawl away, but the tip of the blade was on his neck immediately. Callum’s eyes went wide in amazement. He hadn’t even seen Zeron look away from him. 

“You can let him go, but chances are he _will_ report to Claudia, making our track in Xadia more dangerous. You can also kill him, eliminating the immediate problem and buying us time. But you must make that choice Callum. You must make it...now.” 

Callum’s mind went frantic, weighting the various options. _This isn’t right...this is too black and white._ He thought of any other way that this could end. But Callum had spent the past year thinking about the various conflicts on the continent and how to end them without violence. Within moments, he had an idea that _just might work._

“Belt, can you knock him out?” 

Zeron squinted for a moment, and looked like he was about to object, but then he nodded, and kneeled, balling his fist. Before he could strike, Callum held Zeron’s shoulder as he addressed the cultist. “We’re going to the Breach to see if we can stop this war. Don’t follow us, please. It’s for your own good.” The cultist gave a confused look, but nodded, still looking fearful at Zeron. Callum gave a sign with his hand and Zeron punched the man on the head, knocking him unconscious. 

“ A good attempt, but futile.” Zeron said as he stood and grabbed a cloth to clean his sword. 

Callum was perplexed. “Why!? We can tie him up, make it more difficult for him to follow us, and if he does follow us, he’ll go the wrong way! We’re not headed to the breach, that’s south of here. We’re headed east, to the Storm Spire.” 

“True, but the Breach doesn’t exist anymore. That checkpoint was one of the first casualties of the war. There is no reason for us to go there, and he knows it. The cult probably already figured out that we were going to the Storm Spire, since you’ve been heading in that direction for the past two days.” Zeron kneeled next to the unconscious man and removed his component pouch. It was rather large, and among other things contained a jar with fireflies. “And lastly, it looks like they’re using dark magic to track us. Predictable.” 

Callum visibility deflated. “Oh...sorry…” 

“Don’t be. Your heart is in the right place, and you sought for a better solution than I provided. Just know that you will have to live with the consequences of your decisions.” The both of them tied up the unconscious cultist so that it would take him some time to escape his bonds. They quickly buried the other cultists and in no time, they were back in the skies, crossing the border into Xadia. 

-/-/-/-

Commands and battlecries sounded through the air. Hails of arrows rained down on the Neolandian army, who answered in kind, supported by the mages of the True Light. Though the Duren army was better trained and more disciplined, they had no one to help them against the magic tricks of the dark mages. Slowly, but surely, the Duren army gave ground. 

Claudia watched from atop her horse as the battle unfolded, but she wasn’t watching from within the ranks. Instead, she stood on a cliff, far away from all the carnage, with Aaravos’ mutated and evolved bug creature standing next to her. 

“Are you sure we can do nothing to help them?”

The bug shook it’s mutated elven head. “They are the distraction. The border is unguarded, and any scouts Xadia has here will be focussing on the battle as well. We must move.”

Sullen, Cluadia spurred on her horse and they departed. They traveled in silence for a while. There was tension between them. Aaravos had asked her several times to just ride on his back so that they could simply fly to the destination, but Claudia would not have it. She said that they couldn’t carry that many things that way, which was true, but in reality she was revolted by his new form and didn’t want to touch it if she could help it. It also bothered her that she didn’t know what Aaravos’ endgame was. Her father’s warnings still rung in her ears.

“So, we are going to your old place, huh?” Claudia eventually said, trying to make some conversation.

“That is correct.”

“And we are going there because there is an item that will reveal the location of your prison?”

“Close. It will reveal where I am, or what door or portal keeps me hidden away.”

“So why didn’t we go there before? I’m sure there’s lots of cool stuff in there.” Claudia found herself imagining with an archmage would have stored away. _Perhaps a wand of fireballs! Oeh, or a staff of command dragons!_

Aaravos sighed deeply. “Because there was no point. You were not at a level yet that you could help me cast the spell to find out where I am, and Viren was getting less and less trusting. Besides, I was locked away by the elves using all six arcanum. It will take no less to get me out. Therefore, getting the Heart of a Dragon was paramount.” As he said this, he rubbed his claws across the surface of the primal stone lovingly. It still glowed with the colors of the different elements that were locked away inside.

“Alright… so, why did you live in Elarion?”

“Not in it, but near it. And my reasons are my own.” Aaravos answered briskly. It was evident he didn’t like the turn this conversation was taking.

Claudia decided to joke about it. “Ooh, I bet you were in love with some nice, elven girl over there weren’t you?”

“Shut up!” Aaravos turned to her, his mutated face contorted with anger and pain. “Do not speak of this again!” 

Claudia pressed her lips together, feeling a bit shocked by his outburst. “Alright, sorry.” However, when they resumed their travels in silence, she had to stifle a giggle as she realized she had found out something about the ancient creature. _What do you know, he has a sore spot!_

-/-/-/-

Corvus steered the ship southwards. A night and day had passed. The constant presence of the tidebound elves and the other sea creatures was unnerving. The creatures weren’t as numerous as before, but a lot of whales and dolphins were still following them. They were now deep within the spinning sea, with no land anywhere in sight. The currents were treacherous here, like a giant whirlpool sucking everything ever so closer to a mysterious point in the sea. 

Ezran had tried to talk to the tidebound elves. When that didn’t work, Corvus tried to strike a deal where they would just take him and let the young king go, and when they declined again, Rayla resorted to just screaming and cursing at them. Needless to say, the last few days had been tense. 

Rayla sat at the front of the ship, avoiding pretty much everyone. She felt conflicted. On the one hand her current situation demanded she was on guard and should actually be a bit depressing; to think they had been captured by tidebound elves! Sure, they had not shackled them to the mast, but they didn’t need to. _If the tidebound elves wanted us dead, they would have just sunk the ship and picked us off in the water._ No, they wanted to bring them alive, as prisoners. At least until they had this mess sorted out.

Depressing as that was, Rayla couldn’t help but smile at times. _I’ve seen my boyfriend again. He really is back! And he still loves me!_ Her heart fluttered as she thought of the kiss she managed to steal in her dream before Ezran had awakened her. Sure, it was just a dream, but it was also so much more than that. _I can’t wait to see him again!_ She hoped that Callum would contact her soon, but she figured that spell must drain him. _Oh well, guess I’ve got something to look forward to._

In the distance, a white speck was visible. It had been on the horizon for some time, but now it was steadily growing as they got closer. _What is that?_ She turned to Corvus. “Is that where we’re headed?” She called out as she pointed at the horizon. 

Corvus shrugged and turned to the tidebound elf next to him. “Well, is it?”

“Aye, t’is our home, that at da horizon.” The elf smiled, revealing sharp teeth. Rayla reflected that the teeth of these elves were a lot sharper and pointier than hers. “We have many places we call home, but that there is da crystal palace, the floating bastion that is da home to us all. It is where the Deep One resides.”

“Deep One? What is that?” Corvus asked out of curiosity. 

Rayla beat the tidebound elf to the punch with her answer. “It’s your boss, isn’t it? Another stuck-up tidebround elf like yourself.” She smirked at the elf as he scowled back. Rayla had been enjoying antagonizing the other elves. It was the least she could do while she was stuck on the boat. 

“Betta watch yerself young missis. Methinks you will be fish food otherwise.” 

Rayla watched as the tidebound elf jumped off the ship, apparently wanting to cool down or avoid the travelers for a bit. The other elves were still on board, but looked grim. They didn’t like Rayla insulting their leader. She smiled at them before returning her gaze to the horizon. The white speck was definitely a lot closer now, almost impossibly so. She could make out the details. White towers, placed on high, white walls that shone brilliantly in the sun. As they were heading towards it, Rayla could swear it was also moving towards them. 

She leaned over the railing and squinted her eyes. In front of the palace was something, something massive, pushing the waves apart. It was heading straight for them. As Rayla realized what she was looking at, she called out in terror. “Corvus, turn the darn ship around! It’s going to eat us!”

“What are you talking about!?” Corvus stared in the same direction as Rayla. His eyes weren’t as sharp as Rayla’s, but still better than average. Eventually, he too recognized what she was pointing at. “A sea serpent!? We’re turning around, right now!” 

But as he moved back to the rudder, he was stopped by a tidebound elf who pointed his spear at him. “Na, it won’t eat you… yet. First you get judgement by da Deep One.” 

Rayla shuddered, not sure what that was supposed to mean. She could only watch as within minutes, the Crystal Palace came nearer. And the palace looked amazing. It was completely made from Ice, with long, thin spires reaching for the sky and giant arches connecting them in a chaotic but nevertheless beautiful pattern. It was somehow being pulled along by the giant sea serpent. It’s head was as big as the ship they were on. She thought that it looked a bit like a horse, only blue and with sharp teeth. Blue fins and tendrils covered his body, giving it an eerie appearance. She didn’t see any chains attached to the creature though. 

Ezran leaned over the railed. “I have so many questions! How come the palace doesn’t melt!? How is the serpent pulling the palace along without any ropes!? Don’t you guys get cold when you live there!?”

Rayla smiled and even the tidebound elves had to snicker at the boy's enthusiasm. “Da answer be one and da same; da magics of the sea arcanum.” One of the elves answered for them. 

Ezran smiled, glad to be on an adventure again. He petted the nacoro next to him, who squealed playfully. “Yes, you’re glad to be home, aren’t you, little girl”

Corvus and the elves helped dock the ship to the iceberg under the unnerving watchful eye of the giant serpent. The tidebound elves led them on the iceberg, where their leader was already waiting, arms crossed, looking down on them. “So, you be ready for judgement?”

“Judgement?! We did nothing wrong! The prinses told you so!” Ezran’s indignation was palpable. 

Rayla surveyed the situation. As they climbed off the boat onto the iceberg, more and more tidebound elves appeared out of the water and climbed on with them, looking at them curiously. Most of them had some kind of weapon on them. _There’s really no way out of this… looks like we’re stuck with these tidebound scunners for now..._

The leader kept smiling despite Ezran’s outburst. “She’s but a child. Now that yer here, da Deep One will decide! He-” 

“He’s not here Remono.” A high-pitched, clear voice called out. All looked behind the tidebound elf leader to see a small figure appear, walking out of the crystal palace. It was a tidebound elf girl, pretty young by the looks of it. She wore a strange, blue garment that matched her skintone, making it difficult to discern where it started and where it ended. Compared to the leather armor the other elves wore, it looked very pretty.

Rayla looked at the girl and figured she was probably a couple of years younger than her. _I recon she’s about Ezran’s age._ She thought as her eyes shifted to the young king, who strangely enough was blushing as the girl approached. The girl was a bit taller than Ezran, but certainly smaller than the tidebound leader that had brought them here. Despite that, the adult tidebound elf seemed to shrink a bit under her gaze.

“Ah… your radiance… these people be not worthy of yet attention.” 

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Her oval eyes widened considerably as she spotted the nacoro next to Ezran. “Ellianne! You brought her back!” Immediately, the small creature began squealing and waving its horn. It flopped towards the tidebound girl, who spread her arms, not at all concerned to be hurt by the horn. The creature flopped into her arms easily, making sure to point its horn the other way. “Oh Elianne, I missed you! Where were you?” 

“Your radiance, these foul people be responsible for that. They kidnapped da poor creature.” 

“No we didn’t!” Ezran piped in before anyone else could. “We saved it from the sharks!”

“Don’t listen to them! They be lying!” The tidebound elf called Remono insisted. 

“Well, this is a bit of a problem, is it?” The young tidebound elf tapped her chin, pretending to think. “I know! Let’s ask the sea!”

The tidebound leader’s face fell. “But...your radiance…” 

He was quickly silenced by a motion the girl made as she stepped towards the edge. Many elves who had gathered swam towards her, keeping a respectful distance but curious to what was going to happen. The girl put her hands to her mouth and gave a long wail that varied in tones.

As she did that, Ezran tugged on Rayla’s arm excitedly. “What!?” Rayla snapped. She’d been paying attention to the various elves with weapons.

“She’s doing it too! She’s communicating with animals!” Ezran said in hushed tones as he pointed to the girl and the wales that breached the surface in the distance. The whales answered back in their own tones. As they did, Cuddleface, or Elianne as she was apparently called, Squeeked excitedly and produced its own wail, though shorter and higher in tone. After a minute of going back and forth, the Deep One’s daughter seemed to be satisfied.

“Alright, they are telling the truth.” She said as she pointed to Ezran and the others. “Guards, stand down.” 

Remono looked shocked. “But your radiance! They be-” 

“I know what they are!” she snapped. “And I gave you an order! You best abide by it. Or, do you want to take this up with Leviathan?” 

He paled considerably. “N-no your radiance....” He turned, gave the group of humans and elf a scowl and jumped into the ocean, disappearing beneath the waves. 

“Phew! Sorry about that!” The girl said cheerfully as she approached the group. “I’m Delphine. I’m the daughter of the Deep One, the chieftain of the tidebound elves. I am thankful that you returned Elianne to us.”

“Elianne? That’s a beautiful name!” Ezran said as he stepped closer to Delphine. “We just called her Cuddleface.” 

The girl giggled. “Cuddleface? Yes, I can see why.” The girls mood changed suddenly. “Though we are thankful, I do have to ask; why would the king of Katolis be traveling across Xadian waters, unguarded, during a time of war?” 

“Hey, he’s not unguarded!” Rayla stepped in, feeling offended.

“I mean no disrespect Rayla of Xadia, but what use are you against the full might of the ocean?” Delphine’s response put Rayla off. _This kid’s terribly well informed! She knows who I am and who Ezran is!_

“How do you know us?” Corvus asked the question, wondering if they had been spied on or followed, despite his abilities to hide them. 

Delphine made a broad, sweeping gesture towards the ocean. “Everything that happens on the sea, we know off.”

Despite these revelations, Ezran didn’t feel threatened. “Ha, so you already know what we’re doing here!” 

The girl smirked. “Kinda. But I would like for you to confirm it.”

Ezran nodded. “Okay, I get it. Yes, we’re going to the dragonqueen to see if we can stop the dragonking from burning down our homes.” 

“I see… well, that’s a bit of a problem.” She said as she continued stroking the nacoro. “You see, we are allies with Xadia. We’re supposed to capture and kill you.” 

The temperature seemed to drop all of a sudden. Rayla felt the blood drain from her face as she saw various tidebound elves move closer, grabbing swords and daggers from their sheats. Ezran took another step towards the girl, trying to ignore the intimidating presence of the armed tidebound elves. 

“Please, you must let us go! This war is no good for anyone! The only people that are really looking for a fight are the dark mages in Neolandia. We’ve got to work together to stop them!” 

The girl was silent for a while, never breaking eyecontact with Ezran. Her face was unreadable, whereas Ezran was clearly nervous. Eventually, a smile broke through. “Yes, you’re right. I kind of figured that my self.” She made another gesture, and the elves around her sheathed their weapons again. “I did want to hear you say it though, make sure you meant it.”

“So you’re going to let us leave?” Rayla asked, still wary of any surprises.

Delphine nodded. “Though we’re part of Xadia, us tidebound elves see the world differently. We’re supposed to do what's best for the world, not just what's best for Xadia.” She regarded the two humans and the elf before her, meeting their eyes one at a time. “I do not know what you hope to accomplish when you reach the queen, but I think that right now, that is our best bet for peace.” Her eyes left the group and stared out to the ocean. “They way to the Storm Spire is long from here, with many dangers on the way. Let me help you get there quickly, so you can avoid any confrontation.” 

She put her fingers in the corners of her mouth and whistled. They all watched as from the distance a large sea creature jumped out of the sea and came rushing up towards them, cutting through the waves. It’s head was horselike, like the sea serpent, but it lacked the rows of sharp teeth. It had large eyes and frills and finns adorned its head. Delphine turned back towards the group. “Meet Kelpy, my seahorse. It is the fastest sea creature there is, and it is strong enough to pull your ship to Xadia, maybe even upriver to what you call the Sea of the Castout.”

Rayla whistled. _That would save us a few days of travel!_ She smiled. Suddenly things started to look up again. She was a bit confused as to why the daughter of the chieftain would so readily help them. _I guess I could ask._ Rayla stepped towards the tidebound girl. “Can I ask you somethin’?”

Delphine looked at her curiously. “Yes?” 

“Why are you helpin’ us? You know we’re the enemy. Why would the tidebound tribe care what happens to the humans or elves on land?”

“It’s just as I said. Tidebound elves look upon the world differently, and thought Aureum Umbra is our king, we can all see he’s consumed with hatred. He should step down, we think.” She added with a smirk. “Though you’re a rebel, you’re our best bet at bringing about this change.” 

Rayla was satisfied with this explanation. She thanked Delphine and was about to leave when the small elf grabbed her wrist gently. Rayla looked at her questioningly as she did, and was surprised how worried the elf girl now looked.

“There … is one more reason. Our soothsayers say a great evil will walk upon the world again.”

“What!? What do you mean? Where, when!?” 

“We do not know where. All that we know is that it will happen soon.” Delphine gave her an intense look, like what she was saying was of the utmost importance. “It is important that we are united when that happens. Humans, elves and dragons alike. Otherwise, we have no hope in defeating this ancient threat.” 

Rayla pulled her wrist free. She looked about to see if Ezran and Corvus heard this, but they were already back at the boat, attaching ropes to the sea horse so it could pull them forward. In hushed tones she continued her conversation with Delphine. “What threat are you talkin’ about? You’ve got to give me a little more than that.” 

But the girl gave her a sad look and shook her head. “I’m just repeating what our soothsayers have told me. I don’t know the exact details. I could try to take you to them so they could tell you themselves, but that would require for you to go underwater. It would take a couple of days to prepare the ritual for you to go that deep, and-” 

“No, I get it! Not necessary, that’s totally fine.” Rayla quickly interjected, waving her hands in front of her. “I will just take your word for it.”

Delphine smiled. “Thanks. I know it’s difficult to believe, but we tidebound elves do care about the world. “

“I can see that.” Rayla answered as she watched her scratch the nacoro on its belly. “Whelp, time for me to go. Em, you take care, your radiance?” she added awkwardly.

The girl laughed. “That’s quite alright. Safe journey!”

And with that, Rayla jumped on the boat. Corvus pushed them away from the crystal palace as Kelpy pulled the boat across the waves, gaining speed quickly. Ezran approached Rayla. “What was that all about?”

“Ah, nothin’! She just wanted to make sure we were up for the task, that’s all!” _Best not to bother the little man with mysterious prophecies. He’s got enough on his plate already._

Ezran smiled, enjoying the sea breeze as the boat went faster and faster. “Well, Xadia, here we come! 

Rayla smiled as well. Now that the danger had passed, she really wanted to go below deck to have a lie down, but Ezran seemed to enjoy her company right now. They just enjoyed watching the sea together. 

Eventually, Ezran broke the silence. “Rayla? Do you think Delphine was pretty?”

Rayla gave him a startled look, but then started laughing heartily.

Ezran stomped his foot with indignation. “What’s so funny.” 

She said nothing, but just continued laughing. _Oh boy, just like his brother..._

-/-/-/-

After a long day of flying, Callum and Zeron flew down to make camp. As they descended, Zeron veered off and disappeared into the trees. Callum touched down at their spot and dispelled his magewings. He felt tired, but glad that he was getting his stamina back. He looked up as he heard Zeron approach from beyond the bushes.

“Still not going to show me how you do it?” Callum had been pestering Zeron to show him how he did his transformation. He still wasn’t sure whether Zeron was a human or a dragon originally, to the point where he doubted that Zeron himself knew.

“Let me keep some secrets, will you?” Zeron replied with a smile. He stretched. “You did good today. You made good progress. Your power is returning to you. With any luck, youĺl be back to your original self when we reach the Storm Spire in two days time.”

Callum smiled broadly. It wasn’t often that Zeron complimented him, or that he was in such a good mood. “So, does that mean-”

“Yes, I will teach you some magic tonight. Do you have any preference?”

“Wait, can you do _all kinds of magic!?_ Are you really connected to all the arcanums?” Callum felt himself get overexcited. 

Zeron sat down against a tree and made himself comfortable. “Interesting question. What are the arcanums according to you?” 

Callum blinked. It was an odd question to ask. “Well...uh...they are the sources of magic. If you have a connection with one, then you can use it.”

“Magic has a source, that much is true, but why are there six arcanum? Why aren’t there more or less? 

“What do you mean?” He felt confused. _How can there be more sources of magic?_ Suddenly, a thought struck him. “Oh, you mean like dark magic?”

Zeron thought for a moment. “Perhaps, yes. In a way, a seventh source was created. But the point I’m trying to make is that the arcanums are merely a way to categorize the different ways one can use magic. There are places where people have different systems for magic. I know of a place where they have seperate arcanums for light and darkness, the forces of good and evil. Another place has divided the different forms of magic into eight different schools, each focussing on a single aspect of magic and expanding upon it. And another place that only has four, based on the base elements of water, earth, fire and air, where they train both their mind and their body to bend them to their will.”

Callum’s mind was reeling. “Really? So, there is more magic for me to know?”

Zeron snickered. “There’s always more for you to learn. But the point is that, for the most part, they are one and the same. Magic is a cosmic force that flows through everyone and everything, connecting it all together. Knowing how to use this magical force in general will help you cast spells of different arcanums.”

“Wow…” Callum tried to think of the implications. “But...what about ingredients? When I cast moon magic once, I had to use a moonopal because I do not have a connection to the moon arcanum.”

“I wouldn’t say that you don’t have that connection at all. If you didn’t, you couldn’t cast the magic even with the ingrediënts and the right words. Think of it more in terms of attunement. You are not attuned to that type of magic. You don’t understand it fully. That’s why mages use runes and incantations. They guide your mind along the path of that arcanum, enabling you to cast the spell.” As Zeron spoke, he had closed his eyes, but his hand traced a rune through the air.

Callum did not recognize the rune, but he recognized the rune’s color. _Moon magic!_ In the air appeared the six symbols of the various arcanums, but also the word “rune”, “ingredient” and “incantation.”. He then realized Zeron was using an illusion as some kind of school board to explain things better.

“Anyone with the right amount of focus and will can cast a spell if all these things are present. But a person with a connection to the arcanum can cast a spell without the ingredient.” Zeron swiped his finger from left to right and the word “ingredient” was crossed out. “Now, a master of the arcanum can also cast spells without the right incantation.” Again, a word was crossed out. “This means that the caster can summon the spell through sheer willpower. The more intricate the spell, the more difficult it is to do, though I believe you’ve already learned to do this with a couple of contrips.” 

Without replying, Callum drew a rune in the air and cast a small gust cantrip, causing a bit of wind to blow in the direction he was pointing at.

Zeron smiled. “There you go. These are the basic principles of the arcanum and how to use them.” 

“What about the rune though?” Callum asked, looking at the last remaining word floating in the air. “Is it possible to cast magic without a rune?” Callum tried to think of examples of someone casting a spell without a rune, but the only examples he could come up with were dark magic spells, who always seemed to require ingredients or stored energy. 

There was silence for a while, until eventually Zeron opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. “Nothing’s impossible… But that would require your mind and willpower to be absolute, to be perfectly in tune with the arcanum. Dragons are one example of this. They can cast spells through sheer force of will.”

“Can you do that?” Callum saw Zeron’s eyes swivel to his, and felt a shiver run down his spine. For a moment, he thought he had angered the man with all the questions, but though Zeron’s look was intense, it was merely one of interest. 

“I am capable of many things Callum, but there are also many more things for me to learn. Let’s leave it at that.” With that, Zeron stood up and motioned for Callum to do the same. “Now that we’ve discussed the theory, let’s move on to the practice. You are meeting up with your loved one in a few days, but you can’t really appear at the Storm Spire looking like this, now can you?” He gestured at Callum’s ashen face and hands. There were cracks running through his skin, like he was slowly decaying. 

“Well, thanks for pointing that out.” He deadpanned back, feeling a little offended. “Do you have a spell that could change my appearance?”

“Yes and no. The star magic spell I’m about to teach you is based upon the moon magic illusions, only instead of changing your appearance, it will make the people who see you see you differently.” 

Callum blinked. He was confused. “I don’t understand. What’s the difference?”

“Moonmagic changes the outwards appearance. Starmagic instead affects the minds. Since you are not connected to the moon arcanum, we can use this star magic spell as a substitute. When you cast this spell, everyone who sees you, will see you as you want them to in their mind. Just a heads-up though, it doesn’t work on dragons.” 

“Oh? Why not?”

“Star magic affects the mind and will of others, but dragons have near-unlimited focus and will. It’s why they are perfectly in tune with their element and can cast spells and use breath weapons naturally. Trying to overcome their mind and will is futile.”

This new information put an extra dimension to Callum’s already rapidly expanding knowledge about magic. He felt overwhelmed, yet wanted to learn more. “Okay, I think I understand.” 

Zeron smiled wickedly. _I can count myself fortunate to have such an eager student… I should teach him what I can while Iḿ still around._ “Very well then. Let’s begin.”

-/-/-/-

A day, a night and another day had passed. Claudia was getting really sick of staring at horse ears all day, but she still preferred it to sitting on the bug’s back. Aaravos seemed somewhat shagerined by the slow pace of travel, but had resigned himself to matching the horse’s pace. Nevertheless, Aaravos used his magic to make their travels as effortlessly as possible. Her horse could somehow travel faster (though not as fast as flying), it would take longer before either of them needed a break, and they could move soundlessly and practically unseen, avoiding many elven patrols once they were deep in Xadia. 

Claudia had seen many different landscapes during their travels. Right now they were walking down an old road leading southwards. To the right were nothing but mountains, but to the left was a lush green valley, with a large, broad river leading landinwards. In the distance, the ruined towers of an ancient city could be seen.

“So… what's the first thing you are going to do when you get out of mage prison?” She said in a sing-song voice, leaning over towards Aaravos. 

The bug looked at her, his bulging eyes leerling creepily before staring back at the ruins in front of him. “Making the dragons pay for what they did.”

“Riiiight… the vengeance thing. Not very original.” Claudia snorted. “I get it though. They locked you up, you want to get back at them.”

“That’s not why I want to ‘get back at them’.” Aaravos replied curtly.

This piqued Claudia’s interest. “Oh? So what’s your story with the dragon’s then?”

Aaravos didn’t answer, but simply kept walking, though at a more brisk pace. 

Claudia pouted, then spurred her horse to catch up to him. “Aw come on! You know all about me and dad and Soren and Callum… I know next to nothing about you! It’s cool you’re helping me fight Xadia for humanity's sake and all that, but don’t you think after nearly a year of working together we should at least get to know each other a little?”

It’s shoulders sagged a little, and the face half turned towards her. “Very well. I suppose you’ve earned that much.” He seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment, and then began speaking. “Us elves have settled in these lands thousands of years ago. It was a land we shared with all manner of creatures, including unicorns and dragons. It was an exciting time. It was a time of change. Together with my brethren, we tried our best to ensure a splendid future for us elves in this new land we called Xadia.” His voice took a sarcastic tone. “In order to do so, we made a pact with the dragons. It seemed like a good idea at the time. They were the original inhabitants, and they were far more powerful than we could ever hope to be. But the dragons kept their distance, only demanding that we would respect the land and creatures within it.”

“Oh, does that mean you were all vegetarians?” Claudia had always wondered whether the elves' aversion to dark magic stemmed out of a taboo on killing things in general, or just on whether they viewed it as abuse of something they thought of as sacred. 

“No, there were tribes that hunted. The moonshadow and tidebound elves in particular are good hunters, though in general, elven society avoided killing creatures as much as possible. I too once held onto such limitations. After thousands of years of tranquil existence and slow progress, a new race came to our lands.” His head turned to face her. “Humans. A young race, weak, but full of possibility.” A claw extended towards the ruins in the distance. “Elarion is a place I could once call home. Elarion was the first city of the humans to be built. I settled nearby to watch over them, see if they were a threat to Xadia. But they were quite the opposite. They were weak. They struggled and suffered, being born without magic, without a connection to the valley around them. They had to carve out their own place in this world. And for that tenacity, I admired them greatly.” 

Claudia didn’t know what to say. This was the longest time she had heard Aaravos speak, and she could never have guessed that he had held the humans in such high regard.

“At first we took pity upon the human race, but no one more so than the unicorns. They traveled to Elarion to help the fledgling race. They were the ones that taught a select few mages how to craft the primal stones.” 

“The unicorns did that?” Claudia now felt kind of bad for killing a unicorn last year. “I didn’t know they helped us.”

“They tried to.” was his answer. “But this only helped a few, who kept this power mostly to themselves. So, when nothing changed and the humans were still suffering, I thought it wise to step in and teach them some magic myself.” 

They had now arrived at the ruins. Claudia marveled at the splendor of the old buildings. Though crumbling, the towers reached high into the sky and the architecture was amazing. Many buildings were black with soot though. “What happened here?”

Aaravos answered grimly. “Sol Regem happened. Now, come, my sanctum is not inside the ruins, but it’s not far from here.” 

As the duo walked through the ruins, Claudia kept looking about at the new sights around her. The ruined city looked like it once housed thousands of people. It was no surprise, given its location in a lush valley next to a large river that the humans were drawn to such a spot to settle. As she kept taking in the views, she suddenly noticed a small blotch moving up the river. _There’s a ship there!_ She squinted, but it was too far away to make out any details. The ship was moving upstream, away from them. Claudia shrugged and moved to follow Aaravos, and she idly wondered who that could be.

-/-/-/-

“Whoa! Look at those ruins!” Ezran leaned over the railing and pointed. As Kelpy dragged their ship further up the river, they passed by the large ruin. From the looks of it, it once used to be an enormous city. 

“The city of Elarion.” Corvus muttered.

Rayla was surprised. “You know this place?”

Corvus nodded. “Only from the history books. It’s the birthplace of humanity. The first true city, and the place where humans learned magic.”

“Oh, in other words, the place where it all went wrong?” Rayla said jokingly.

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Ezran shot her an irritated look.

“Nothin’! I just meant that, well, they learned dark magic here, and…” She saw that her ‘joke’ had landed on deaf ears. “Alright, I’m sorry. That was insensitive.”

“Only a little bit.” Corvus said, grinning slightly. “And you are wrong, at least partly. Did you know that we first learned magic from the unicorns?”

Rayla’s eyes widened and she slowly shook her head. She didn’t know that.

“It was only after a great famine that the humans picked up dark magic as a last resort, or so I’m told at least. However, dark magic uses magical creatures as ingrediënts, and the elves and dragons didn’t like that.” 

“I imagine the creatures bein’ used weren’t too fond of it either.”

Corvus just shrugged to her comment. “Regardless, that’s when we got kicked out. We tried to fight back of course, but we couldn’t beat the elves, so we ran.” 

“Huh, that’s not what I learned.” Ezran piped in. “Opili taught me that the elves were prepared to kill us, but at the last second, they changed the sentence to banishment. They divided the continent in two and gave us the side with the least magical creatures.”

Corvus shrugged and turned to Rayla with a questioning look. Ezran did the same.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I wouldn’t know. I just got taught to use my swords. I think Ethari tried to teach me some history, but I was always better suited for the more practical classes.” She patted her swords on the back as she said that. 

Ezran shrugged. “I believe that.”

Corvus steered a bit, correcting their course so that the ship was in line with the sea horse who was pulling them along. It was strong and fast and had greatly reduced the time it took to reach Xadia. “If the maps are correct, then there should be a large body of twitter called the Sea of the Castout at the end of this river. From there, we can take another river and travel further landinwards.”

Rayla whistled. “I know the river you’re talkin’ about. At this rate, we’ll reach the Storm Spire within the next two days.” She sat down near the mast and looked at the ruins in the distance. _I hate the water, but I’ve got to admit, this got us here faster than any land mount could have gotten us._ She looked up at the sky. _Where are you Callum? Will you be at the Storm Spire?_ She hadn’t heard from him through her dreams in the last couple of nights and she was getting worried. _Nevermind what happened in the past. I just want things to be like they used to be._ Uncomfortable because of the rocking of the ship and feeling slightly depressed, she hugged her knees and watched as the ruins of Elarion disappeared in the distance.Well be in the storm spire tomorrow

-/-/-/-

Zeron and Callum touched down in an open field. Despite being a large dragon, Zeron managed to land without a sound, which surprised Callum who still landed with a slight bump, still working on his flying skills. 

Callum turned and looked in the distance. “There’s the Storm Spire!” Indeed, in the distance, the large mountain was rising towards the heavens, its top obscured by clouds. “Are you sure we can’t make it there tonight?” 

“I’m sure.” A human voice said. When Callum turned around, Zeron was already back to his human form, leaving Callum to wonder how he did that. Zeron ignored Callum’s curious look. “If we push now, we will startle the nightwatch. And you are still wanted dead. We’d do better to arrive there tomorrow during day time, when the guard is more relaxed, and queen Zubeia is awake so we can parlay with her.”

Callum wondered if it would make any significant difference. _They are gonna hate me regardless for what I’ve done._ Still, Zeron had gotten him this far. He figured that one night extra would not matter. _I wonder if Rayla is already there._ “Is it alright if I cast the dream spell again tonight?”

“You tell me.” Zeron said as he laid down in the grass. “Are you up for it?” 

The young mage thought for a bit, trying to judge how much energy he had left within him. “I think so. I don’t feel too tired.” 

“Good. Wait a bit so you’re sure that Rayla’s asleep as well.” Zeron said as he closed his eyes.

“Good idea.” Callum sat down, thinking of what he could do to make tonihgtś dream as good as possible. Then a thought struck him. “What if Rayla’s not asleep? What if she has a nightwatch or something?” 

Zeron didn’t open his eyes. “Well, then it will be a lonely dream for you I suppose.”

“Oh….” That wasn’t the answer he was expecting. Callum stared at the Storm Spire until it disappeared in the darkness of the falling night. As he did, he tried to make conversation with his only companion to pass the time. 

“Zeron?”

“Hmmm?”

“Where are you from?”

Callum thought that Zeron had fallen asleep when no reply came. As he turned to look however, Zeron was staring up at the night sky. Eventually, he replied. “What’s east of Katolis?” 

“Well, Evenere obviously.” Callum answered, remembering their neighbouring human kingdom. 

“Right. But say you pass straight through Evenere. What then?”

Callum thought a bit, recalling the old maps of the known world that he had seen during his studies. “Uh…. the sea?”

“Yes, but beyond that?”

Callum struggled to come up with an answer. As far as he knew, there was just an endless expanse of water. “I...I don’t know.” 

Now Zeron smiled broadly. “That’s where you will find me.”

“That’s a vague answer Zeron. Like, really vague.” 

Zeron shrugged, smiling. “Anything else?”

Callum thought of a question. As it turns out, there was one that had been bugging him for a while. “Yeah… who do you think is responsible for this war?” He heard a sound coming from Zeron. As he turned to look, he saw Zeron sitting up, looking somewhat surprised.

“That’s a loaded question. I suppose everyone has contributed in his own way, whether it is to stop the fighting or to continue.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Callum thought about Zeron’s answer. He looked up at the stars, trying to focus. “But some are more responsible than others right? Claudia is trying to come up with all kinds of ways to pit the various countries against each other, and the dragon king was practically looking for an excuse to attack the human kingdoms!”

“True, but they are not able to act on their own. King Aureum Umbra has the support of all the elven tribes and the dragonmoot. He is their elected leader. They chose to have a strong warrior king. As for Claudia, she’s using tricks, deception and magic to gain followers.” 

“Yeah, about that. Claudia seemed to adjust most of her plans to what that bug creature wanted from her.”

“You mean Aaravos?”

Callum gave Zeron a look, surprised that he knew the creature. “Yeah, that’s what she called it. Something about an elf spirit trapped inside that thing. But whenever we had to discuss plans, we had to run it past him. The bug seemed pretty upset when we went through with our own plans for once, come to think of it.” 

Zeron leaned back down into the grass. “Yes, that elf was never good at letting people do their own thing. He tried to control the destiny of the world. He still does in his limited own way, I recon.” 

“Do you think he is responsible for this war?”

“Less than he likes to think. I’m sure that he would like to encourage the violence, but he only has as much power as he has people following him. In a way, he is lucky that Viren found him somehow, and that Claudia is now following his lead.” 

Zeron’s answer puzzled Callum. “But Claudia is a very powerful dark magic user. Doesn’t that make Aaravos very dangerous?”

The man snickered. “Oh yes, very. But it takes more than one mad elf sorcerer to win a war. Though he would disagree with me on that.”

“Is that what he wants then? To win the war?”

“Everybody wants to win the war.”

“I don’t want to win the war!” Callum quickly jumped to his own defence.

“Sure you do. In your own idealistic way. You hope to win the war by taking out the core players. First king Aureum Umbra, and Claudia probably after that.”

Now Callum was thoroughly confused. “Isn’t that why you are helping me? I thought we wanted the same thing.”

“And what do I want Callum?” Zeron looked at the boy, his face like an unreadable mask.

A cold sensation came over Callum. He had the sudden feeling that he knew next to nothing about this man, nor his motives. He just assumed that because he was helping him, Zeron was one of the good guys. “I-I….I don’t know.” He stammered.

Zeron just sat on the grass and stared off into the distance. After a while he said; “I want to go home.” 

“Oh…. are you lost?”

“Something like that.” 

Now Callum felt bad for him. “Is there anything I can do to help?” 

But Zeron waved it away, laughing a bit. “Go on, don’t worry about me. Cast your dream spell. It will be your last chance to talk to Rayla on your own terms after all.”

Giving up on this conversation, Callum sat down on a cozy looking spot and tried to focus. But part of his mind was still thinking about the man he was traveling with and he wondered if he would ever fully understand him.

-/-/-/-

When Rayla opened her eyes that night, she was in a different place. She immediately felt excited. _Callum cast the spell again!_ It had been a while, and she was more than ready to see him again. As she looked around, she immediately recognized the place she was in. _The midnight desert oasis!_ It was where she had first kissed Callum (an embarrassing affair to be sure), but it was also where they had later kissed and cuddled and truly been together when the caravan had come through earlier that year. She smiled as she thought of that. _Those are some good memories._ She started to walk around to look for him. Turns out she didn’t have to go far.

“Hey Rayla!” Callum stood, leaning against a palm tree, arms crossed, grinning. 

“Well hello prince charming. Fancy meeting you here.” She flirted with him, enjoying the feeling of butterflies in her stomach.

“Yes, what a coïncidence.” They started at one another, both trying to keep a straight face. Eventually they faltered and burst out laughing. As Callum wiped away his tears of laughter, he spread his arms out towards her. Without saying anything, she moved in and kissed him passionately. 

“I’ve missed you…” she said as she broke off to catch her breath.

“I’ve missed you too.” He nuzzled her cheek and gingerly stroked her horn.

This caused her to snicker. “Careful with that.”

“I know, I know…. So, how are you doing? You kind of disappeared on me last time.”

“Ugh, yeah, about that….” She untangled from him, but held on to his hand as she pulled him along for a walk. “Turns out that Cuddleface was actually called Elianne, and was important to the tidebound elves. They jumped us and took us back to their crystal palace for ‘judgement’.” She made the quote marks with one hand as she said that. 

“Really? Then how did you escape?” 

“Didn’t have to. The elf that captured us was a real scunner, not really popular with the daughter of their actual leader. She set us free. Heck, she even gave us some kind of sea horse to pull our boat! The boat nearly flew across the water with him pullin’ it! I almost enjoyed myself!”

This made Callum laugh. “Almost?” 

“I was still on the water Callum.” 

“Fair enough. So where are you now?”

Rayla thought for a bit. “About a day or two away from the Storm Spire. We’re traveling on foot now. We’ve gone upstream with our boat as much as we could.”

“Really? Zeron and I will reach the Storm Spire tomorrow afternoon! Maybe we’ll see eachother then.”

Rayla laughed at Callum’s enthusiasm. “Maybe, but that’s a long shot. But we’ll see each other soon. For real I mean.” Callum’s smile twitched ever so slightly, causing Rayla to raise an eyebrow. “What?”

“Well, thing is…” Callum scratched the back of his head, feeling embarrassed. 

They stopped walking. She took both of his hands and tried to catch his eyes with hers. “What is it Callum?” 

“I...well, there’s so many things! But, for you…” He tried to finish his sentence but seemed at a loss for words. 

“Easy Callum. Deep breath, take your time.” 

“I know, I know.” Listening to her advice regardless, he breathed deep and calmed itself, ignoring the irony of not actually needing oxygen in his dream. “The thing is...I don’t look like I do now. Not really.” 

She looked oddly at him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, outside of the dream, I’m still corrupted by all the dark magic I used. I look horrible!” His embarrassment was replaced by a look of despair. “My skin looks cracked and grey, a-and my eyes are dull and red. I look like a monster!” 

What he said troubled Rayla. There had always been a bit of fear that the evil Callum was still around. “You don’t still use dark magic though, do you?”

“No of course not!”

She bit her lip. “Oh...Okay…” She looked away and her grip on his hands weakened.

Callum did not know what to do or what to say. He felt her slipping away, and it was a feeling that broke his heart. He was all the more surprised when all of a sudden her grip on his hands clenched, painfully. Before he could say anything, she had forcefully pressed her mouth against his. The kiss confused him thoroughly. Once she finished, he gave her a questioning look. 

“I’ll- I’ll accept ye the best A can. A must try, after all you’ve gone through.”

Callum swallowed. “You can do that? After all I’ve done?”

“It wasn’t really you though, was it?” she said, her smile trembling, trying to hold on to her determination. _I want to be with him. I can’t let the things he did while he was not himself bother me._

“That’s…” he tried to think of a word to describe the act of kindness she was showing him. He found his vocabulary falling short, so he just smiled and rubbed a thumb under her eye, wiping away a tear. “You’re getting emotional again.”

She gave a short laugh. “A guess. So, what are you goin’ to do when you reach the spire, lookin’ like you do?” she said, changing the topic slightly. 

Callum went along with it, gesturing as he spoke. “Zeron taught me to use a glamour spell. It can hide my true appearance. Apparently, Viren did it all the time using dark magic, but don’t worry. I’m using star magic to cast the spell.” 

Rayla blinked. “Star magic? I thought illusions were part of the moon arcanum.” She thought back of their adventures on the Cursed Caldara and Lujanne’s illusions up there.

Callum shrugged. “It’s complicated, but it works. Do you really want to use our time here to discuss magic theory, or do you want to do something else?” The thought actually excited Callum, but he was smart enough to know that Rayla probably wanted to do something else.

“Do somethin’?” She put her finger on her chin. “Like what?” 

“Well….” Callum waved his hand and the wind picked up.

Rayla could feel the wind blow slightly, but it sounded a lot louder than it should. _It almost sounds like the wind is whistlin’’ a tune…._ The notes picked up and became clearer. Soon, it was audible enough to be recognized. “Callum! That’s the tune they played at the caravan!” 

He smiled devilishly. “Is it? I didn’t realize!” 

“Callum!” She laughed and put her hands around his neck. In a surprising move, Callum used her momentum to pick her up and swing her around. She laughed and clung to him. 

He grinned as he sat her down. “Dance with me.” He whispered.

She blushed. She felt him close to her, the soft music whistling in the background, his beautiful emerald eyes staring into hers. “Yes. I’d like that.” She hoped she didn’t sound as nervous as he felt.

His smile got wider as he grabbed her hand and pulled her in a dancing pose. “Follow my lead” With that, he grabbed her hand and let her into a soft, slow waltz as they danced underneath the starry night.

The tune carried through the oasis as Callum held her close to him. He could smell her scent. _Wood and moonberries._ Rayla had always smelled of nature, whereas he imagined he himself smelled of old castles and books. He twirled them round and round, the gravity of their spinning threatening to pull them apart, causing Rayla to cling to him all the more. 

Rayla felt like she was in heaven. In this place there was no war, no people who judged them or wanted them death. She briefly thought of the warning Delphine had given her about an ancient evil and discarded the thought immediately. She didn’t want to interrupt this dream with such matters.

Callum for his part was briefly distracted by the thought that Zeron could be watching over him right now, and wondered if he should bring up his nagging doubt about whether or not the mysterious dragon was trustworthy at all. But he too thought the better of it and continued the dance, pulling Rayla in more intricate movements. His time at the Aero Temple had helped him improve his agility. Coupled with his inbred knowledge of ballroom dances, he managed to dance decently. For them though, it was perfect.

He slowed them down as the tune faded, having repeated itself for many times now. As they came to a stop, neither of them let go of eachother. They stared into eachothers eyes, breathless, not wanting this to stop, but not sure how to continue either.

“Callum…” Rayla whispered his name, wishing for more.

“Rayla….” He replied in kind. He pulled her down towards the coarse oasis grass and pulled her closer, trapping her in his arms. 

Though she was the taller and stronger of the two, she let him and giggled as he nuzzled her neck. “That tickles!”

“Heh, sorry.” 

“It’s alright…” She kissed him, paused briefly, then kissed him again. 

Callum looked at her, looking blissfully happy. “I wish this wasn’t just a dream.” He whispered, loathe to break moment with the sound of his voice.

She sighed. “Yeah… me too.”

He looked at her hopefully. “When we see eachother again for real, will you...?” He left the question unspoken.

She blushed, smiled and nodded, then kissed him again. _Of course I”ll kiss you, you dummy. How can I ever keep my hands off of you?_

They stayed there, blissful in the peaceful oasis until the dream faded from them. 

-/-/-/-

At long last, they had arrived. After many days of travel Zeron and Callum finally touched down on the Storm Spire. The great black dragon landed protectively in front of Callum as the dragonguards approached them, weapons raised. 

“Zeron!? What are you doing here with that scum!” Catlyn pointed her dagger in Callum’s direction as he peeked from behind the massive dragon to see what was happening.

“In due time, dragonguard. He’s of no danger to you as he is right now. I vouch for him. But before I or he explain anything, I must see the dragon queen!” The dragon spread his wings and stood up straight, making him seem all the more imposing. He stared down at Catlyn. “Will you let me pass?”

Catlyn had half a mind of denying him entrance, just for the hell of it. She did not think for a second that she could keep Zeron from getting in if he tried to use force, but she still remembered the night that Keryn died. _He was there. He led the attack. Why is he still alive!? They saw him die!_

She gritted her teeth, her eyes going from Zeron to Callum and back again, all the while clenching her fist. “Alright then. But if that scunner makes one false move, one threat towards us or ours, dragon or no we attack.” 

Zeron gave a curt nod. “Very well. Callum, wait outside while I prepare for your arrival.” And with that, the giant dragon walked into the Spire, leaving Callum alone in an uncomfortable silence with five dragonguards who were giving him death-glares. 

Callum self consciously checked if his glamour spell was still up, and was somewhat relieved it was. But he figured that the spell right now made little difference as even so, the dragonguard continued glaring at him as they formed half a circle around him. He recognized a few of them. Kiyara was there of course, as was Pincaelo, but two others he didn’t recognize. A slender looking elf clad in green robes, which covered brown armor with a wooden texture on it. Her antler horns betrayed her as an earthblood elf. The other was clad in silver armor and wore a purple short-cape. He held a sword that Callum vaguely recognized as one similar to the ones Ethari designed. _Probably another moonshadow elf…_

The one elf he desperately avoided eye contact with was Catlyn. _She lost her brother..._ He vaguely remembered seeing Claudia locked in combat with her and her brother. He had his own worries at that time though, as he remembered his fight with Bosor. Ashamed of all that happened, he hung his head. _I couldn’t do anything about it, yet it still feels like it's my fault. They’re so angry with me, and I probably deserve it._

Catlyn just stared at him. There were many things she wanted to say. But considering the circumstances, she figured it would be best to wait and see what would happen. _Perhaps the queen will order his death._ She thought. _If that’s gonna happen, I want to be the one to do it._ She looked sideways and noticed that even Pincaelo had a grim look on her face. _She’s probably thinking the same._

A loud rumble announced the return of Zeron on the plateau. “Callum. Come with me.” Without saying anything else, the dragon turned back inside.

Callum gulped, and took a few careful steps in the direction of the entrance. Catlyn was standing in his way now, and she hadn’t moved. He gave her a wide berth while keeping his eyes on her. She didn’t say anything, but her dark look spoke volumes. Once he was passed her, he dashed towards the entrance and made his way inside. The interior of the Storm Spire looked much the same as it had, with all the damage of the last attack being repaired. But to Callum, it didn’t have the same, homey feeling it used to have. 

With trepidation he entered the Great Hall, home to the dragon king and queen. Zeron was there, sitting quietly, eying the human as he entered. The queen too had a dark look on her face, her mouth curled in a snarl and her eyes narrowed. Callum started sweating heavily. He could not turn his eyes away from queen Zubeia. He felt like he owed her an apology.

“Q-queen Zubeia, I-”

“Cam!” The teen was suddenly tackled as something large impacted him. As Callum looked up, he immediately got a faceful of licks from prince Azymondias who had now staddled him and was pushing him down. Zym had grown a bit more, now being the size of a sheep or a small poney. 

“Zym! Ach, no! It’s alright! I’m here!” Flustered, Callum tried to regain his composure, but Zym was having none of it. It had been too long since he had last seen his human friend. 

“Well, the prince certainly does seem to like the human! A good omen to be sure.”

The voice startled Callum. It was neither Zeron’s nor queen Zubeia’s. With some force, he pushed Zym off of him and sat up to see who’s voice it was. Standing between Zeron and the queen stood an elf the likes which Callum had never seen before. The elf had a dark, purple skin, much like a skywing elf, but the skin was covered in tiny silver spots which seemed to shine like stars. The elf had a smooth face with some small silver lines running across it’s cheek. Haflong black hair covered his head, with two grandiose horns crowning it’s head, larger than he had ever seen on any elf. The horns had branching points at intervals and flowed outward, before coming back in again and reaching for the heavens. Most startling were the elfs eyes. They seemed aglow. Pure white light shone from them with irrisses golden as the sun. 

Callum’s mouth was agape. He stared the elf and gasped as it simply smiled back and addressed him.

“Welcome, Callum, prince of Katolis and the first human to master the arcanums. The stars have prophesied your arrival.” He spread his arms, his purple and silver robes flowing gently with the movement. “Come closer. We have much to discuss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays everyone! I hope that everyone has found their happy place, even in these trying times.I had hoped to produce some updates during the holiday, but things aren’t going as planned. Ironically enough there’s too much fun stuff that requires my attention (digital family meetings and the like) and I haven’t been able to focus on the story as well as I should have. It’s nearly impossible for me to write 10K words a chapter a week right now, so I will not be updating as frequently. My apologies for that. 
> 
> The story is progressing slowly but surely. Not many reviews this time, not sure why either. When that happens, there’s always the terrifying thought that something was wrong with the last chapter. Or perhaps I’m just getting spoiled? More likely, everyone was busy with the holidays, as they should. Be that as it may, I will continue writing this story. I want to finish it. It’s a matter of principle for me at this point. I want to see this through. I owe it to myself, and to the characters in the story too. They deserve their happy ending. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is welcome too!


	6. Towards mystery

“Y-you know who I am?” Callum stuttered as he sat on the floor, Zym happily hopping around him. Of course by now most people on the continent had heard some rumor of a young human being able to connect to the sky arcanum, but somehow Callum felt that he had a different connection to this elf. _It is almost as if I can feel his presence!_

The elf smiled gently. “The stars have spoken of you Callum. You are the first, the first of many humans that will push themselves beyond what they are capable. We have watched your journey with great interest.”

Callum came to a realisation. Looking at the purple skin, glimmering with the light of stars and the elaborate horns, not seen before on any kind of elf, he finally understood what was before him. “You’re a startouch elf!” 

The elf laughed. “Very perceptive!” He glanced around the room. “Before we can continue this conversation however, it is important you make amends with your past.”

“My past?” He glanced up, taking his eyes away from the startouch elf and looking up to queen Zubeia, the ginormous dragon who was still frowning at him, her lips curled in a snarl. “Oh…” He stood up, his body betraying him by trembling with fear.

The hall was silent. Zeron watched the proceedings with great interest, but his giant black form seemed to fade in the shadows, his presence forgotten by the others. The star touch elf seemed unfazed by the tension, the mysterious smile never quite disappearing from his face. But the queen had locked eyes with Callum, staring him down. Callum had trouble keeping eye contact and quickly bowed, hoping the gesture would placate the queen. 

“Queen Zubeia, I am very, very sorry for what happened.” Silence. _Alright, that’s not enough. What else can I say?_ Still bowing, he continued. “I mean...I’m really sorry for the attack and all that. I’ll promise that it will never happen again, and I’ll...I’ll…” Callum stumbled over his own words. He heard the dragon bristling and was afraid to look up. _She’s not going to eat me, is she!?_

The dragon lowered her head, her heavy breathing blowing at Callum’s hair. “Stand up straight and look at me Callum.” Her voice sounded strained, containing barely hidden anger and pain. 

Callum gulped and stood up, looking at the head that was only a few feet away from him. He knew that should she choose to end his life, there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted to look at Zeron for comfort, but dared not break eye contact with the queen now that she demanded his attention. 

“Callum… the last time you came here you brought grief to many. Your betrayal came as a great shock to all of us.” The once so gentle dragon stared down hard on the young man, peering right through whatever magic kept his true appearance a secret. “Now you come here under the guise of a glamour. Explain yourself.” 

Callum was alarmed and looked at Zeron, but he remained motionless, his cold, blue eyes the only sign of his presence in the shadows. _Didn’t he explain what happened to the queen!?_ He heard a sound and looked around. By now, most of the dragonguard had also appeared at the entrance, watching the proceedings with great interest. Catlyn was playing with her dagger while leering at him. He stammered and tried his best to form a coherent reply. “Your majesty, I beg you, please forgive me. I-I-I…” He wanted to say it was all Claudia’s fault, and maybe it was, but he felt personally responsible as well, if only because he fell for her tricks and enabled her to abuse him. In a show of honesty, he dispelled his glamour and spread his arms, as if to show; ’this is who I am’. There was a gasp from the dragonguard as they saw his true form now. The startouch elf only looked saddened, but wasn’t repulsed. The queen gave no reaction, still waiting for his answer. 

“I messed up. I was stupid. I shouldn’t have been so distant to Rayla, or get so entangled in that other girl. Because of all that, when Claudia visited, I fell for her trap and let her bewitch me against my will.” He turned around and faced the dragonguard. “I’m sorry for what has happened. I did not want to hurt any of you.” Looking straight at Catlyn, he said; “I’m sorry about Keryn, and Bosor.” 

Catlyn grimaced, nearly dropping her dagger as something painfully tore open the wounds on her heart. She turned around and fled away, leaving the other guard near the entrance.

Callum turned around, once more addressing the dragon queen. “I know my words mean little as a way of apology. I can only say that my heart has never betrayed you, and that whatever I did was against my own wishes. I was not myself. You’ve got to believe me!” Callum ended in a pleading tone, hoping against hope that he could get back in the good graces of the queen, of the elves, of Xadia, _of Rayla._

It was silent for a long time. The queen and Callum stared at each other. Callum thought of all the things he wanted to add, but it seemed futile to do so. He had said his piece and now awaited judgement or forgiveness. 

After a while, the queen sighed heavily and closed her eyes. The anger disappeared from her face and was replaced by tiredness and sadness. “This war has many casualties it seems, including your innocence Callum. You are tainted beyond repair by dark magic, magic you have used against us. But even so, Zeron has spoken for you, that you are true in saying that what you did was against your will as well.” The queen's voice took a surprising empathetic tone as she continued to speak. “I can imagine no more terrible fate than to lose your free will. I believe you when you say that you were not fully yourself, that you did not intend for this to happen.” 

A careful smile broke through on Callum’s face. He hoped for a chance and it seemed like he would get one.

But the queen was not finished. “However, because of your actions, there is a debt that you must repay. You have slain many of the dragonguard and hurt us beyond compare. To repay that debt, you must relinquish yourself to our judgement. You must be punished for your actions, involuntary as they were. Xadia will demand no less.”

Callum gulped. _What!? punishment? Are they going to lock me up?_ He looked at Zeron again for help, but this time around, he couldn’t even see the dragon. Terror creeped into his being, feeling like he was abandoned by his only ally here and thrown to the wolves. The queen looked at him expectantly. He tried to arrange his thoughts. _I don’t think they’ll kill me, and Rayla will be here soon...._ “C-can I think about this?”

The dragon looked surprised. “Think? Callum of Katolis, there is nothing to think about. Zeron delivered you here to be brought to our judgement.” 

“What!?” 

“You are now ours, for as long as this war will rage on. Guards.” Queen Zubeia stomped with her paw, causing a rumble to echo through the chamber. The dragonguards sprung into action immediately and surrounded Callum, seizing him by his hands. “Escort him to the guest chamber. Make sure he stays there until I’ve found a proper punishment for him.” 

Callum stared bewildered at the queen and the startouch elf who, surprisingly enough, hadn’t said anything. He just smiled at Callum, which confused him even further. With nothing left to say, he let himself be dragged away, unsure of what the future would bring for him.

-/-/-/-

The meeting had already lasted for hours. All who had gathered had grown tired, but no one had called for a break yet. They all wanted to see this through. The gathered dark mages of the Council of Ziard were discussing a topic of the utmost importance; what side of the war would Del Bar join?

Xadia was right out of course. No one wanted to join a side that tried to annihilate humanity. But that still left two other sides, both representing a part of humanity, and there were various factors that made that choice difficult. 

“We should join Duren and Katolis in their plight.” One of the council members said. “They have honour and right on their side.”

“Honour and righteousness doesn’t win a war though.” Another spoke up. “Neolandia appears to be more clever and powerful than either of them.”

“That’s just because Xadia hasn’t struck against them yet. If dragons attacked them, they would be pushed back too.” 

“Not with dark magic at their side. I think that-” The discussion went on, with the various council members joining in on the heated discussion, sometimes raising their voices. As part of their code, they tried to be civil against each other, but emotions got heated the longer the discussion went on.

The head of the council sighed heavily as he stared as his brethren argued. He rubbed the grey, cracked skin on his face, the grey and white hair matted against his head. “This discussion is futile…” he mumbled. “Neolandia is strong but corrupt in it’s intentions, while Katolis and Duren are weak but in the right.” As his eyes went over his arguing councilmembers, he spotted one who was silent. The newest member, and possibly the youngest, though that was difficult to discern, the corruption of dark magic having turned all of their hair grey and white. Viren sat, silent, his hands closed in front of him. He didn’t seem to look at anyone in particular but preferred to just stare into the distance, keeping his own council. 

The head of the council waved his hand. “Silence!” The rest of the council members quieted down, curious to what their most senior member had to say. They were surprised however when he addressed Viren. “Viren, you have not spoken much during this discussion. Very little in fact.” The rest of the council mumbled in agreement. During the short time Viren had been a council member, he had made himself known as someone who would voice his opinion and challenge those who disagreed with him. This had made him a well respected member of the council, someone who others started to listen to with great interest. It was odd for someone as outspoken as Viren to be so quiet during an important meeting. “We, the council, would like to hear what is on your mind.” 

Viren’s eyes shot up and met the head of the council. There was a tense pause, before Viren got up and demanded the floor’s attention. “I was simply reminiscing on my past, head counselor. As you all know, I was once Lord Viren, head mage of Katolis. After that, I founded the cult of the True Light in Neolandia, where I held no official office but ruled them from behind the curtain. It seemed improper for me to mix in this discussion, as I am anything but impartial.”

“That is precisely why we would value your opinion! You know both sides better than anyone! Most of us have never left Del Bar.You could give us the insight we lack.” The head of the council pushed. In truth, he hoped that the insight Viren would give them could cut the knot of the discussion they were in. _We have to choose a side. We have to stand with someone against Xadia, or else they will destroy us._ The head councilor thought back of the stories of Elarion and shivered. _Anything but that. Never again shall Xadia burn us to cinders._

“I see your point head counselor.” Viren said as he rubbed his chin. “Very well. But I give you my council with the knowledge that it may very well be biased.” He looked at the various councilmembers. They were all older than him, with some looking positively ancient. Yet he knew there was strength in them all, both through magic and power of will. _This council may be the first group of people that seem in their right mind with regards to dark magic and the survival of humanity._ He thought for a bit on how to frame his message, then spoke.

“I founded the cult of the True Light with the hope that the liberal use of dark magic would lead humanity in a new era, one of peace and plenty. However, I now see that this rampant use of dark magic corrupts the very nature of our being, having seen it first hand in an old student of mine.” He shivered as he thought back of seeing Callum’s corrupted form for the first time. _No child should have to age that quickly, or be scarred like that for the rest of his life._

“Neolandia is too drunk with it’s own lust for power. It’s conviction is based on lies, their leader bewitched by my daughter, who is in turn bewitched by the ghost of Aaravos, who is helping her in the most dubious of circumstances.” He breathed in sharply. “When Claudia should fall,- and she will in time,- then the whole nation will come crashing down.” He gestured with his other hand, as to underline that the other nations were Neolandia’s opposite. “Katolis and Duren on the other hand have remained steadfast through decades of peace. Even within the pentarchy their leaders had always been an example, leading the others through their honour, their strength and and their conviction. They will stay true to their principles, even to a fault.”

He closed his eyes. To Viren, this was more than politics. This was personal. He had to choose between his daughter, or the place he still called home and his heart. But though his heart pulled towards his daughter, he knew that such a gesture would be futile. _Claudia is too deep in this mess to see the truth. Aaravos has pulled the wool over her eyes. But maybe, if we can remove her power, she will come back to her senses._

“Katolis and Duren are not the most powerful side right now. They lack the magic the other sides possess. But if we join forces with them, we would be the most powerful side on the continent. With their armies and our magic, we will be able to enforce a peace between the nations.” 

The rest of the council was silent, but only for a moment before they all applauded. His words were full of strength and purpose. Though the council considered itself wise, they were not the most charismatic bunch. The head councilor called for silence again. “Very well. It seems that your words have moved us yet again Viren. Let us call for a vote. Who should we join? Cast a blue light for Katolis and Duren, a red light for Neolandia.”

All members cast their vote, snapping their fingers, causing light to emit from their hands. Within moments, the room was flooded in an overwhelming blue glow. 

The head of the council rose, prompting others to do the same. “Very well! We will join Katolis and Duren. Viren, you are the one who has persuaded the crowd. What do you think should be our first course of action?” They all looked towards Viren expectedly.

Viren for his part knew why they asked him that question. The council ruled by unanimous agreement. They all had to agree before deciding on a course of action. Since his speech had been the deciding factor, his words carried extra weight for the next few moments. Whatever he said now would be listened to, his words not lost in another endless discussion. He took a deep breath before he uttered words that both frightened and thrilled him. “We must muster our forces and attack Neolandia as soon as we are able. We must destroy the cult of the True Light, and free Neolandia from it’s grasp.”

-/-/-/-

Callum didn’t have to wait in his temporary cell long before he heard a soft knock on the door. He felt glum and angry about the whole circumstance, so his first instinct was to make some snarky reply. But he then remembered that a couple of the elves were probably ready to jump at any opportunity to slit his throat, so he thought the better of that. 

“Come in…” he said wearily. He had hoped a quick talk with the queen would clear things up, but knowing that it would take much more than that before this whole ordeal was behind him made him feel exhausted.

As the door opened, soft footsteps made their way into the room. As Callum looked up from the bed, he noticed it was the startouch elf who entered. The elf looked around, then grabbed a chair and sat down, facing Callum. “I see you’ve got questions. Ask.”

“What, just like that? No hello? No introductions or how-are-you?” 

The elf laughed a bit and shook his head. “That would be pointless. Those are questions we both already have the answer to. It is much more interesting to discuss those unknowns between us.”

Callum sat up, feeling a bit frustrated as yet another mysterious being entered his life. “Alright. So who are you?”

“You already know. I am one of those you refer to as ‘startouch elves’.” The elf kept smiling at him mysteriously.

“That hardly answers my question. Do you have a name?”

The elf seemed to ponder whether to answer the question before reaching a decision. “Why is that important to you?”

Callum leaned forward, his bloodshot eyes never breaking contact with the elf. “How can I trust anything you say, if you won’t even give me your name?”

“Very well.” the elf conceded. “It’s Esoriél”

This seemed to satisfy Callum to some degree, but he still had trouble getting his bearings. He looked over the elf. The dark purple robe hid most of its bodily features, and the face was ambiguous as well. The elf could be of any age, and any gender. This confused him tremendously. “Right.. Esoriél. And why do you want to talk to me?” Callum figured personal questions would be deflected, so he might as well skip to the point. 

The elf smiled broadly before answering, seemingly pleased with the question. “To see if you are still on the right path, and to point you in the right direction if need be.”

Callum frowned. _That’s still vague._ “What did you mean when you said my arrival was prophesied?”

“The stars foretell many things, including that I would meet you here.” The elf waited for Callum to reply, but the young man had crossed his arms and closed his mouth, evidently waiting for more of an explanation, and being fed up with having to ask all these questions. Esoriél sighed. “There is a war going on, but though it might sound strange, this war is the least of our worries. A far greater evil is on the brink of returning to this world.”

Now Callum was all ears. “What? What kind of evil!?”

“An old one. A startouch elf who has been locked away for over centuries by the previous dragon king. His name… is Aaravos.” 

Callum blinked. “Uh… I think he’s already out actually.”

This caught the Esoriél off guard. His already pale purple skin turned even paler, the first true expression of emotion Callum saw on the elf. “What!? Since when!?”

“Well, he’s in Neolandia, with the cult of the True Light.”

“Are you sure it was him? Did you see him yourself!?” Esoriél stood up from his chair and moved towards Callum, who pressed himself against the wall by his sudden outburst. 

“Well...ehh...yeah? I even spoke to him when I was charmed. He’s a giant bug creature, right?”

“A giant-? Oooh.” Realisation dawned on the startouch elf. He let go a relieved sigh and sat down again. “So he used such a spell to walk in this world again. Clever… But no. He’s not out yet. Trust me, if Aaravos was truly out, I would know.” He looked at Callum earnestly. “You would know. The earth would tremble, and all kinds of calamities would have befallen us all.” 

Callum swallowed. “Okay… so how do we stop him?”

Now the elf smiled again. “That’s where you come in. You see, the stars have foretold the arrival of a human gifted in the ways of magic. You, my dear Callum, have a part to play in this tale, for the betterment of all of us.”

Callum frowned, then his eyes widened. “Wait...am I the chosen one?”

Now Esoriél laughed awkwardly. ““Hahaha, I mean, that’s one way of looking at it. Fate...uses many pawns. Some succeed in their task, while others get distracted on the way. It is my job to point you in the right direction so that you can do your part.”

“Alright, so what is my part then?”

Now the elf leaned forward. “Fate is kind to you, for what you want and what fate wants of you are the same thing. It is important for the destiny of this world that the sunfire elves reclaim their lost city of Lux Aurea. To do this, you need to purify the Sunforge.”

“That’s what I want to do!” Callum pipes up. “It is the only way for me to get rid of this corruption!” he said as he gestured at the grey skin on his face and hands.

Esoriél nodded. “That’s right. Now, to purify the Sunforge, you are going to need a powerful artifact capable of absorbing the dark magic that now resides in the Sunforge’s crystal. As it happens, I may tell you the location of such an artifact.” 

Callum was all ears. “Tell me! I mean… tell me please?”

The elf extended a finger and drew a small rune. Suddenly, the image of a large, green emerald wrapped around with thin golden vines appeared in Callum’s head. “This is what you are looking for. It is called ‘È’Nots Reverof’, but in your tongue it would roughly translate to ‘the everlasting stone of purity’.”

“That’s...an original name.” Callum said, thinking it was anything but.

The elf shrugged. “Perhaps. Regardless, this crystal is special in that it is the purest one in all of Xadia, crafted in the days of old. We know through divination that it is located in one of Aaravos’ old hideouts, near Elarion.”

“Elarion… “ Callum had heard the name before. He remembered the tales he was told as a kid. “That’s in Xadia.”

“Indeed it is. One of the first bastions of humanity. You must go there as soon as possible.”

Callum took a moment to take in all of this information. He wasn't sure whether he should trust this elf or not, but what the elf wanted seemed to coïncide with what Callum wanted. _If I do this mission for him, then I’m doing something for Xadia as well. Maybe it will help stop the war!_ He looked at the elf and gave him a careful smile. “Alright, I’ll do it.” The Callum looked sad, suddenly remembering something. “I first have to get out of this cell though.” 

Esoriél smiled and stood up. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. The stars have foretold me what would happen next.”

“Do you mind sharing?”

“All in due time, young one.” He said in a singsong voice as he walked to the door.

Callum threw him a deadpan look the elf couldn’t see anyway. “You know, you’re really starting to annoy me.”

The elf laughed. “I get that a lot.”

-/-/-/-

After a long day of travel, Rayla, Ezran and Corvus finally reached the base of the Storm Spire at the end of a hot afternoon. They were taking a break in preparation for the long climb when Pincaelo flew down to check who was approaching the seat of power in Xadia.

“Rayla, you’re back! I didn’t expect to see you so soon!” The young, excitable skywingelf eyed the two human companions warily. “What are you doing with those humans Rayla? Are they prisoners?”

Corvus and Ezran raised their eyebrows and looked at eachother, but Rayla laughed it off. “No, not at all. Could you tell the queen that I’ve returned and that I’ve brought the king of Katolis with me? They would like to have a word.”

Pincaelo blinked, but nodded. Then she flew closer to Rayla so she could whisper in her ear. “You should know...there’s someone up there that you might not want to see.” 

Rayla’s heart skipped a beat as she knew who Pincaelo was talking about. “Callum’s back!?” 

Pincaelo recoiled at Rayla’s excited expression. “W-what’s going on Rayla? He nearly killed all of us! Why are you happy?”

Her expression changed from happy to pained. _That’s right… they might not know Callum’s story, or believe it._ “It’s a long story, Pincaelo, but trust me. While Callum...did some things, the true enemy is the cult of the True Light. That’s why the king is here as well.”

Pincaelo nodded once again and took to the skies. Rayla stared after her compatriot. _I wish I could fly. I wish Callum could carry me up there._ She felt the fuzzy feelings return in her stomach as she thought back of when he was her. 

Several hours later, the sun had set and the country glowed in the soft light of the twilight. Rayla and the others had taken their time to ascend the mountain. Rayla was jittery, both wanted to rush up to get there, but also hold it off for as long as possible, holding on to her dreams and not wanting them spoiled by reality. 

Ezran was the one pushing the group forward. He was eager to speak to the dragon queen, but more than that, he was eager to see Zym. _After all this time, I get to see you again buddy!_ He wondered if Zym had changed much. 

As they reached the bridge leading to the entrance, they were greeted by Catlyn. Though she saluted the group out of habit, Rayla rushed forward and greeted her with a hug. Through the harsh times, the two moonshadow elves had bonded together, comforting each other in their grief. But Rayla also saw the conflict in Catlyn’s eyes as they let go of eachother. Though nothing was certain, Catlyn had already realized that Rayla was going to have a second chance with Callum. Her brother Keryn would never return. 

No words were spoken, but as Rayla saw the conflict, her eyes watered over in sympathy for her friend and she hugged her once more, surprising Catlyn a little. 

Corvus and Ezran waited politely for the two to finish. Rayla finally let go of Catlyn and motioned the rest of the group to follow. As they entered the halls of the Storm Spire, they got some weird looks from the dragonguards, but no one stopped them as Rayla was still a member of the guard herself. She looked at Ezran as they stood at the entrance of the Great Hall. “Well, are you ready?”

Ezran looked serious and nodded. “I must do this. We must end this war. Let’s go.” 

Rayla nodded in response and together they entered the Great hall. As they approached, they could hear some kind of discussion going on. 

“I did you a favor!”

“Perhaps… and perhaps not.”

“I went out of my way to do this for you. All I ask is you give me the information you have on the key of Aaravos.”

As they walked in, they could see the black dragon called Zeron staring down at a strange, purple skinned elf with white hair. 

“I made no deal with you Zeron. You have no right to that information.” The elf replied, seemingly unperturbed by the large dragon. The queen watched the two passively, listening to their discussion. 

“Do I really have to strike a bargain every time? Have I not made my allegiance perfectly clear through my actions!?” The dragon was losing his composure and though he was not roaring, he was actively snarling at the elf. 

But the elf wouldn’t budge. “It is not your destiny to possess the key of Aaravos.”

The large black dragon stared at the elf menacingly, it’s pupil less blue eyes promising terrible power, but when the elf showed no sign of conceding, the dragon abruptly turned and went out of the room, ignoring the new arrivals completely as he sped by. 

“What was that all about?” Rayla asked out loud.

The queen sighed heavily and shook ehr large head. “Zeron presumed to have done us a favor and felt that we owed him in return. But the reality is that-”

“Ezz!” A white-blue blur flew out from underneath the dragon queen and tackled Ezran headon. 

“Zym!” Ezran hugged the dragon tightly. He was a lot larger now, as Ezran noticed, but he was still just as energetic and playful. “Hahaha! Easy Zym!”

“Ezz! Back!” The little dragon expressed his joy as best as he could. Bait croaked excitedly and crawled out of Zym’s backpack, jumping on the little dragon and nestling on it’s back as a sign of affection. The dragon gave the both of them ample licks. 

The queen smiled at the display, but her eyes focussed on Rayla as she stepped forward.”Ah, Rayla. It is good to see you again, though I did not expect your arrival, nor that you would bring the king of Katolis here. Please tell me what has transpired! Is the war finally over? Is he here to offer his surrender?” There was some apprehension in the queen’s voice. She didn’t know what to expect. If the war was over, surely the dragon king himself would have returned. Something was not right.

Rayla just hoped that Ezran hadn’t heard this. _Not the best way to start off a conversation, askin’ them to surrender._ “Uhm, no your majesty, the war isn’t over, but durin’ my mission I came across the king, who tried to make his way to you. He has a proposal that he wants to discuss with you.”

“And your mission was to bring him here safely?” The dragon leaned forward, her eyes intently on the dragon guard, whe felt flustered by the attention.

 _Oh, gods, how am I goin’ to save myself out of this one?_ “Well, not exactly, but that’s not important right now. What is important is that we stop this war as soon as possible.” 

The queen just looked at her, confused. “Rayla, you are supposed to be guarding the dragon king! Are you risking your job as dragon guard again for some self proclaimed mission? King Aureum Umbra is not going to give you another chance!”

Rayla cringed at that. “I know, but …” she looked at the ground, searching for an answer. She felt the need to answer honestly. “This is more important than me. If I don’t do this, thousands will die, both elves and humans.”

The dragon queen was silent for several moments, before she finally nodded. “Very well then. For the sake of Xadia, I will hear out king Ezran’s proposal.” 

Rayla bowed deeply. “Thank you my queen.” As she stood straight again, she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “Erm… maybe a weird question, but… has anyone come by to see me recently?” She knew Callum was here, but didn’t want to ask after him directly. She didn’t know if he had already talked to the queen about what really happened to him.

“No Rayla, not specifically. Though Zeron did bring the human dark mage with him. He is currently locked up in the guest quarters.”

“Locked up!? Why did you do that!?” As soon as Rayla had shouted the question, she mentally slapped herself. _Of course they are goin’ to lock up the person who nearly killed them last time._

The dragon queen confirmed this. “He has apologised, but we are not sure of his intent. In any case, he must be judged for his actions. Esoriél will help me in find the right punishment for his crimes, so that justice may prevail.” Her giant claw gestured at the startouch elf who had now walked up to Corvus and seemed to try to make conversation. The human didn’t quite know what to make of the elf, but didn’t seem to mind the attention. 

“But Callum has done nothing wrong! He was controlled! What attacked us wasn’t Callum!” 

The queen frowned. “I’m not so sure. I will think about this thoroughly.”

“You do that. I’m goin’ to see Callum!” 

The dragon queen watched perplexed as Rayla stomped off with attitude, clearly frustrated by the situation. _She is an extraordinary person_ , the queen thought. _If only she learned to control her emotions…_

-/-/-/-

Callum was interrupted in his pacing of the room by shouts outside of his door.

“Let me through! I need to see him!”

“But ca-Rayla, he’s-”

“I DON’T CARE! Let me through!”

Callum braced himself as something banged against the door. Then, with another bang, the door flung open. There in the entrance stood Rayla. Callum’s face lit up immediately and he spread his arms. “Rayla, you’re back!”

Rayla’s eyes widened and she froze on the spot. There in the guestroom stood the same Callum that had fought her weeks ago, complete with cracked, ashen skin and streaks of grey and white woven through his hair. It was a gruesome reminder of something she had tried to forget.

When Rayla didn’t move, Callum stepped closer. He felt her hesitation so he hoped to close the distance himself. As he reached out to her, she recoiled a bit. _No...no! She cannot back away, she cannot leave. Not now we’re finally together again!_ Callum panicked and grabbed her arm, pulling her into a hug. 

Rayla tried her best not to resist, and very slowly returned the forceful embrace, but when he felt him move his head to kiss her, she quickly turned away. She felt how Callum tensed up, before slowly letting go of her and stepping back. She didn’t look up. She didn’t want to see his face.

“Rayla?”

Rayla didn’t say anything, but glanced at the grey and cracked skin that was visible on his hands before looking away again.

“Rayla…” Callum spoke softly. “I thought….in our dream, you said that-”

“A know, but in that dream everythin’ was perfect!” She looked up at him now, her eyes teared up as she fought the fear within her, the fear she felt for the same person she had grown to love. “Out here, you’re… you’re…”

“A monster.” Callum finished, his face crestfallen. 

“...A didn’t say that.” 

“You thought it.” Callum looked at her sadly. He regretted not putting up a glamour now before she arrived. _I could have let her show it gently, prepared her a bit more! Ugh, I’m so stupid!_

Rayla kept looking at him, her breathing erratic. Visions of Callum killing Bosor appeared in her mind. _No, that was not Callum. That was someone else,_ she tried to convince herself. She sat down against the wall, her head in her hands. “A’m sorry. A know this wasn’t da reunion ye wanted.” 

Callum sat down some distance away from her and hung his head, staring at his shoes.. “...no, it wasn’t.” 

“This… this doesn’t change how A feel aboot ya though! A just...A just need…” _Need what?_ She didn’t know, not really. She just wanted things to go back to normal again.

“I understand.” 

She remained silent for a while. “Ya do?” She glanced to her right, but Callum didn’t look at her. Most of his face was hidden by his hair, which stuck to his face in a mess of grey and brown. 

“I think so at least. I remember more and more of what I did when I was under Claudia’s control. I get that seeing me like this scares you. I’m sorry.” 

“But that’s just it!” Rayla’s voice cracked, the emotion boiling up inside her. “It’s nae fair to ye! It’s not yer fault!”

“...maybe. The queen doesn’t see it that way though.” Callum put his head in his hands. 

“What do ya mean?”

“They want to punish me for what happened.” 

“What?! That’s ridiculous!” she said shocked. “Ya came here out of yer own free will to apologize! Why would they still punish ya!?” 

Callum now looked at her, looking chagrined. “Apparently, I was a gift to the queen from Zeron. He tricked me. I don't know why, but the queen said he delivered me here to be brought to justice.”

Feeling restless, Rayla stood up, with Callum following her example. She gave him a confused look. “But that makes no sense! You were goin’ here anyway ‘cause of me, weren’t you?”

He looked concerned, but shrugged. “Maybe he took advantage of that. I don’t think we can trust Zeron anymore Rayla.”

She gave him a look and opened her mouth to say something, but Callum stopped her.

“I know what you are going to say.” He looked embarrassed, remembering Rayla’s misgivings on Zeron. 

Seeing Callum embarrassed actually put a slight smile on her face as it remembered her of the old Callum she loved. “Sure, but I still wanna say it.”

He sighed. “Alright.” 

“I told you so!” She grinned at him, despite the seriousness of the conversation. _I do love bein’ right!_

Callum saw her grinning, and smiled back carefully. It was the first positive interaction they had outside of their dreams. The tension that had been in the room seemed to evaporate.

Suddenly, Callum didn’t seem so repulsive anymore, though Rayla still found herself flinching occasionally when she looked at him as visions from the battle were recalled by her brain. _Give it time,_ she told herself. _Let it become a distant memory. I want to move forward._

She reached for his hand, but hesitated at the last second. Callum was surprised by the motion, but remained where he was, letting her make up her own mind. Then Rayla pushed through and grabbed his hand. His skin felt rough and dry, but it was warm, _alive._ “Come, let’s go to the queen. I’m sure we can sort this mess out.” 

Callum had no idea what Rayla’s plan was. He tried to shrug, but was dragged halfway out of the door before he could finish the motion. “O-okay!” 

-/-/-/-

“So you can understand him?” The queen’s surprised voice rang through the Great Hall. She had been talking to Ezran, who was playing with Zym. Corvus sat in a corner, carving some wood with a pocket knife while keeping a watchful eye on the young king. 

“Yes, I can. I can understand most animals and communicate with them. Zym’s still struggling with thinking words, but he’s getting better!”

“Oh...my…” The queen eyed her young offspring who was happily chasing Bait, who was, well, baiting young Zym to follow him around in an uncharacteristic display of playfulness. “As a mother, I feel that I understand his moods, but he still has a lot of growing up to do before he can actually talk. Most dragons don’t speak the common language spoken by most in Xadia before they are a century old. It is harder for them to do than the draconic language we speak instinctively.”

“Wow, a whole century?” Ezran tried to imagine him as an ancient looking man, talking with a still relatively young dragon. “That’ll take a while.”

The queen smiled, a toothy laugh rumbling through the halls. “Yes, I imagine it must be for you. Though I think my little Azymondias is a quick study. Your connection to my son must be why he’s so quick to pick up your language.”

The sound of commotion reached the Great Hall and all looked up as Rayla entered, dragging Callum behind her. The queen looked surprised by the sudden intrusion. “Rayla, what is this?”

Before anyone could respond, Ezran made a beeline for his brother, only stopping close to him when he noticed he looked...weird. “Callum!.... What happened to your face!?” Ezran's eyes were wide of surprise as he looked at his brother. 

Callum noted that though his brother looked disgusted, he felt that it was more of an instinctual reaction to his looks instead of a reaction to his person. _Kind of like when I fell into a wagon of horse droppings when I was a kid._ Callum had to smile at the memory. Ezran didn’t know why Callum smiled all of a sudden, but he just smiled back, feeling no fear whatsoever.

“Well, you know how we’ve all been telling people that dark magic is bad for you?” Ezran nodded, waiting for his brother to continue. “Well, turns out it can really get under your _skin!”_ Callum did a pose, waiting for laughter.

Ezran stood there, silently, then rolled his eyes. “Callum, that was terrible.” 

“HahahayeahIknow.” He knelt down and spread his arms. “It’s good to see you little brother.” Ezran accepted his hug without hesitation. He wasn’t at all surprised that Callum had looked like this, he had seen it through Zym’s vision after all, but more than that their brotherly connection ran deep. Ezran knew that Callum wouldn’t hurt him and that he was safe with him. 

Rayla gaped at the display. _He...accepted his hug without hesitation…_ She suddenly felt ashamed for her many doubts and started to hate her own revulsion at the sight of him. But she couldn’t put the resemblance with Viren out of her mind, a reminder of her battle at the top of the Storm Spire. 

A loud cough caught everyone’s attention as the dragon queen lowered her head towards Rayla. “Dragon guard, though it gladdens me to see you with your mate again, I had him locked up for good reason. Why do you bring him out before me?”

Rayla quickly pushed down the blush at the queen’s mention of Callum being her mate. Somehow, it felt too soon, as they had only rekindled their bond days ago. Still, she felt the need to defend him. “I cannot believe you would lock up Callum like that! He’s- well, he’s not innocent, but _he_ didn’t do anythin’! They made him do it!” She stood there, gesturing, trying to convince the queen she served. 

The queen gave a sigh, tired of the many discussions she had had that day regarding this topic. _First Callum, then Zeron, and now Rayla…_ She quietly wished that she had never become a queen, but reflected that these wishes were futile, so she summoned the last bit of her patience and tried to placate her favorite dragonguard. “I am well aware of the situation, Rayla of Xadia, and I have given it plenty of thought. I believe him when he says he was bewitched by the dark mage. But consider what the rest of Xadia would think if we were to just let him go without any form of judgement?”

“I don’t care what the rest of Xadia thinks! I know Callum’s-”

“Well, you should.” The queen interrupted her. “Because though I am queen, it is only by their acceptance that I am their leader. If I do not handle this properly, many could say I have made a mistake too many and would seek to replace me.”

“Yeah, about that…” Ezran piped up. “That’s actually why we’re here!” 

The queen gasped, looking shocked. “You...wish to replace me?” 

“What!? No! No, not you! You’re nice!” Ezran hastily approached the queen and waved with his hands. “That’s not what I meant. We were actually going to ask you if you know of a way to replace king Aureum Umbra. He’s the one who really wants to go to war with us!”

“With good reason.” The queen replied gently. “We were attacked not two months ago.”

Ezran persisted. “I know, I know, but not by us! Katolis wants peace, and so wants Duren. And I bet Evenere and Del Bar think the same way. But Neolandia is in the grip of the cult. They are the ones who are messing it up for everyone else!”

“I see. I’m afraid that the king no longer sees it that way.” The queen looked sad because of the current state of affairs. “I too wish for peace, but the short peace we had was fragile and ruined when we were attacked unprovoked in our own home. Surely you can understand that king Aureum Umbra would not let that attack go without repercussions?”

But Ezran stood defiant and shook his head. “No. I cannot understand that. A king shouldn’t ignore his feelings, but he should look at what is best for everyone. He should have contacted us first. He could have sent delegates, or, or spies even.” Ezran hated spies. It felt like cheating, but he wasn’t so naïve to think that the other nations didn’t use them. “Instead, he just did what felt right and ruined it for countless others!” When the queen didn’t answer, Ezran pressed his plea. “There must be something we can do! If we cannot convince him, can’t you step in and stop him!?” 

The whole room was silent as they awaited the queen’s reply. Many held their breath, feeling that the answer could very well decide the course of history. The queen was acutely aware of that herself. Very hesitantly, she replied. “There...is one thing that could help. An ancient law. Any dragon may challenge another for their dominion. It is how Luna Tenebris succeeded Sol Regem.” 

Ezran’s eyes lit up. “So you could challenge Sol Regem! You could take over and make this war go away!”

The queen recoiled at his outburst. “No! I cannot! It would mean that I have to defeat Aureum Umbra in combat.” She looked at Zym, who by now had captured Bait and was licking him generously, much to Bait’s delight. “If I get seriously injured, what would become of my son? And others might see it as a betrayal of the dragonmoot’s decision to have him as king… no. I cannot fight him.”

“Isn’t there any other dragon that can fight him?” Callum said, stepping forward carefully. 

“Though there are some dragons who would want to replace Aureum Umbra for their own sake, they are not powerful enough to best him. The dragonmoot choose Aureum Umbra for his strength in spirit and for his might.” The queen hesitated. _Would it be treason to suggest another? Though I admire king Aureum Umbra for pulling Xadia back together after my slumber, I dislike his warlike character… Dare I take a claw in this?_ “There is one other you could try… but it would be a longshot.”

Ezran looked at his brother, who looked at Rayla. “We’ll do whatever is needed to stop this war.” she proclaimed. “Who do we need to ask?”

The dragon queen squinted, hesitating a moment longer before answering. “Rex Igneous.”

“Rex...Igneous?” Callum’s eyebrows shot up. He turned to Rayla. “Didn’t you talk to me about him? I think I tried to sketch him once.”

“Yeah, you did. But he only comes above ground once every century. And we don’t even know where!” Rayla exclaimed.

“Not even I know where he rests currently.” the queen said. “I just know that he resides somewhere beneath a mountain to the east.”

Callum put a hand on Rayla’s shoulder. “Than that’s where we need to go. We need to find this dragon and convince him to take over!” He then thought for a bit. “He’s not worse than Aureum though, is he?”

The queen laughed, a deep rumble that vibrated through the air in the mountain cave. “No, he’s a kind-hearted soul, though blunt when he needs to be. He would be a more patient king, though he has never had much interest in ruling. It will take some convincing on your part,” she said, nodding her giant head towards Ezran. 

“Don’t worry. I know how to talk to dragons,” he confidently replied.

Rayla grasped Ezran’s hand in hers, while holding Callum’s hand in the other. “We’ll find this Rex Igneous. Your majesty, I ask your permission to start this search, together with my friends.”

The queen snickered and leaned down, crossing her paws in front of her. “You are eager to rush off into adventure Ralya of Xadia. I would not expect anything less of you. But aren’t you forgetting something?” When Rayla gave her a confused look, the dragon pointed one finger towards Callum. “He is still awaiting judgement.”

Rayla groaned. “But that’s not fair! Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if he tried to help us stop the war, instead of stayin’ here locked up!?”

“That is not his destiny, young dragonguard.” Everyone looked up as Esoriél strode into the great hall, accompanied by Catlyn. 

“Ah, Esoriél. You arrive at the right time.” The queen looked pleased as the startouch elf entered. 

The elf strode forward to stand in front of the great dragon, but Catlyn stopped near Rayla and gave Callum a dark look before addressing her fellow dragon guard. “He was locked up for a reason you know…” 

Rayla looked shocked that Catlyn would say such a thing and gave her a worried frown. “It wasn’t him. You know that.”

Catlyn kept glancing at Callum, a pained expression on her face. “Knowing that doesn’t make me feel any better. Neither does it bring back Keryn.”

“Nor will lockin’ him up!” Rayla wanted to say more, but was stopped as Callum placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he started, trying to look Catlyn in the eye. “I have already said what I needed to say, so I will accept whatever judgement you have for me.” He looked at Rayla, who was shocked. “It’s for the best for everyone,” he added, trying to convince her. 

“B-but ya don’t know what they’ll do to ya! They might lock ya up. They might even-” She didn’t want to say it. Generally, the dragons and elves valued life above all other things, but even they had limits, as this war had proven.

A small, warm laugh drew their attention. “Have a little faith, Rayla of Xadia,” the startouch elf said. “We are understanding of the situation, and have worked out a solution that should work for all of us.” 

The queen nodded. “Indeed. Once again the startouch elves have provided us with wise counsel. Therefore, I feel confident in the judgement I am about to pass.” She rose to her full height and spread her wings, making her look all the more imposing. “Callum of Katolis. Step forward.” 

Callum did so without hesitation, but Rayla did not let go of his hand. He turned his head towards her and saw the fear in her eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile, hoping that it would hide his own fear, and pulled himself free. As he stood in front of the dragon queen, it took all of his willpower not to shake in terror. He looked up, trying to look the queen in her eyes.

“Callum of Katolis, though not of your own violation, you have done grievous harm to the dragonguard. You were under the command of the dark mage of the True Light when you attacked the Storm Spire. During the attack, you have hurt many, and ultimately killed Bosor of Koladzir and Gaia of the Drakewood. This grievance must be repaid before we can fully forgive you.” 

Callum took a deep breath, steeling himself for what came next.

“We hereby sentence you into our servitude. A thousand lifes you must save for each life that you took.” 

Callum’s mind reeled. _Servitude? Saving two thousand elves? How do I do that?!_ But the queen wasn’t finished. 

“You must undo the damage done by the dark mage known as Viren. You must cleanse the Sunforge in Lux Aurea so that the sunfire elves have a home again. Do this, and we will consider your debt to Xadia fulfilled.”

Callum’s head whipped towards Esoriél, who was smiling broadly. Suddenly it dawned to him. _He knew! He knew what I wanted, and he talked to the queen about it! We all want the same thing!_ He looked back. Rayla was smiling, relieved that he wasn’t going to be locked up, and behind her was Catlyn, who seemed to think for a bit before nodding, apparently feeling that the enormous task placed upon Callum’s shoulders was punishment enough. He turned back to the dragon again as she cougher for his attention. “Well, Callum? Do you think this is a fair enough punishment, given the circumstances?” 

Callum swallowed and bowed. “Your majesty, I will gladly accept this. I will do my best to repay this debt.” 

The queen smiled. “Good. You’ll be restoring the ruined lives of many. You’ll be giving us back Lux Aurelia.”

“Remember what I told you Callum.” Esoriél added. “To complete this, you will need an item. Make sure you get it back to Lux Aurelia safely. Once you find it, do not relinquish it to anyone. The one to cleanse the sunforge _must_ be you.” The startouch elf had lost his smile, seemingly trying to underline how important this was. Callum just nodded in response. 

“But Callum! What about Rex Ignious?” Ezran ran over to Callum. “The dragon king is still besieging our castle! We’ve got to stop the war!” 

Esoriél walked over to the two brothers.“Don’t worry, young one. I sense great strength in you.” He placed a gentle hand on both of their shoulders, still looking at Ezran. “If you truly believe this to be the right path for you, then I’m sure you will succeed.“

Callum swallowed, looking at his little brother and remembering his own difficulties he and Rayla had just reaching the Storm Spire the first time. “My little brother? Traveling all alone through Xadia?”

“He’s not alone.” Corvus said as he walked up to the group. “I will guard him with my life.” A dignified croak could be heard from down below. Bait was standing at Ezran’s feet, waiting to be given some attention. Corvus gave a sigh. “Aaand Bait will be there for him as well.” 

They all laughed. Even Catlyn gave a smile at the comradeship she saw in front of her. Though still pained by the memories, she realised that she would have to let go of them eventually if she was to go forward. _If Rayla stays with the guard, I’ll be seeing more of Callum in the future. And she’s right. It’s not his fault…_ She turned and walked away. _Succeed in your mission, Callum of Katolis. If you do, I will forgive you as well._

Esoriél looked at the group. “We each have our part to play. I will continue to give council to the queen. Hopefully we can send messages to the dragon king to further delay any attack. Should king Ezran succeed and find Rex Ignious, then I have no doubt that we can soon end this war.” He looked at Callum. “Don’t forget Callum, your mission is just as important, and not just for your own sake. It is redemption for the human race as well. We must all stand united to stave off any further danger.” 

Callum nodded. He understood the underlying warning that was in Esoriél’s words. _The return of Aaravos.._. 

“Well, that’s it then, isn’t it?” Rayla said. “Everyone ready for another adventure?” 

They all nodded and smiled, though Corvus looked nervous at the prospect of escorting his king through unknown territory. “Don’t worry Corvus, it’ll be fun!” Ezran said, punching Corvus in the leg.The look Corvus gave the king told them all how he thought about that. 

Callum grabbed Rayla’s hands and gave it a squeeze. She rewarded it with a loving smile. “We will end this war… together.” 

-/-/-/-

The elven woman was feeling apprehensive as she ascended the steps to the plateau atop of the Storm Spire. The light was fading; the sun had just set. It had been a while since she had last seen her mentor, so naturally Kiyara longed to see him again. However, since Belthasar Zeron had arrived, he had two long discussions with the queen and the startouch elf in the great hall, only to retreat to the plateau afterwards. He hadn’t said anything to her yet, nor sought her out, and it worried her. 

She reached the top and looked around. Dark clouds were swirling in the distance, the last light of the setting sun giving them an ominous glow. She saw her mentor standing at the edge of the plateau in his human form, his brown cloak flapping in the wind. 

“Belthasar?” She took a few careful steps but remained at a distance. She had always respected her mentor. He had not only taught her the way of the sword, he had taught her how to live. Before she found him, she was bullied for her mixed heritage and her tanned skin, not fully the colour of one race of the elves or the other. _No, he found me,_ she corrected herself. She remembered the night where she had fled into the woods to get away from her bullies. He had found her sagging against a tree in the rain, battered and bruised. Though she was frightful of his human form at first, he had been kind to her. He had taken her to his cave and cared for her. 

She had returned there whenever she could, a bond growing steadily between them. Belthasar had always remained composed, had always been patient, no matter how dire or stressful the circumstance. So it worried her tremendously to see him brooding like this. She didn’t call out again, opting to wait until he responded. Kiyara was sure that he had noticed her, so she waited and waited until he finally turned around. 

“Kiyara…” 

Kiyara gasped. She had never seen her mentor in pain before, but by just looking at his face, she could tell he was suffering. “My mentor, what is going on? I have never seen you like this.”

Zeron took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. He closed his eyes. A few breath’s later, and his face was as calm as ever. “I’m sorry you had to see me like this.” 

She didn’t know what to say. Then she smiled slightly and shrugged. “Well, you’ve seen me a lot worse.” 

The smile he gave her made her feel a little better about the situation. “That is true.”

“So what is going on?” Kiyara pressed. “It’s very unlike you to get so worked up about something.”

Zeron sighed and stared out in the distance. “Imagine being so close to your goal that you can almost taste it. You can almost grasp it. Almost. But not quite.” He paced the plateau slowly, gesturing as he spoke. “I have played around with the politics on this continent long enough. I am sick of it.” He looked at her and she could see the longing in his face. “I want to go home.” 

There was silence between them. Kiyara knew there was nothing she could say that would soften the pain in Zeron’s heart. Kiyara looked him in the eyes and embrace him, something she had never done before. Zeron stiffened before accepting the embrace. They stayed there for a bit before Zeron carefully pulled her arms from his form. “Thank you. I don’t get that much.” 

“It’s alright to grow close to someone you know.” Kiyara said, ignoring the irony that often she didn’t follow that advice, as she was a loner herself.

A sad smile was his answer. “Not always.”

Kiyara didn’t know how to reply to that, so she changed the subject. “When I was guarding the human prince, I overheard him talking to the startouch elf. They said something interesting. Something about an evil wizard returning to the world.”

Zeron snorted. “Ah, yes, the legend of Aaravos. He’s been working hard on getting out. I imagine it won’t be long before he succeeds.”

This surprised Kiyara. It was not the response she was expecting. “But didn’t the startouch elf send Callum on his path to prevent the coming of Aaravos?”

Zeron’s smile disappeared, his eyes focussing on hers with an intensity that frightened her. “This is something you should know. Startouch elves are the safekeepers of fate. Esoriél is not here to prevent fated things from happening. He’s here to ensure it _does_.”

Her eyes widened. “But...that’s terrible! We’re already pulled into a terrible war by the machinations of one dark sorcerer. Think of what an arcane master connected to all arcanums can do!” Her mind was racing. There were legends that no one talked about. Dark stories of a master of all six arcanum who had wreaked havoc on the elves and dragons until they finally managed to lock him away. “Mentor… can you not stop Aaravos?”

The cloaked man turned around, facing away from her. “... it is not my business.”

She grasped his arm tightly, causing him to turn around and meet her pleading eyes. “Would you do it for me though?”

Zeron looked deep into her eyes. He was reminded of the pleading eyes of the little elf girl he had met all those years ago. _I suppose I cannot leave this place a ruin… Not while I still have the power to do something about it._ “...very well then. I will intervene when the time is right.” He pulled away from her and walked, disappearing over the edge of the plateau. A moment passed and a black dragon appeared, flying up and disappearing in the dark night sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one’s up! I was very happy to bring back the Rayllum in the story, but our two love birds will have to work through some additional trauma before all is said and done. 
> 
> I’m feeling the pressure to finish this story in a timely manner. I have a feeling that season 4 of the Dragon Prince might be released this year. I do want to wrap up my fanfiction before that, as fanfiction stories usually become less popular once they no longer match the official canon timeline (might be different for each of you, but that’s how I feel about it).
> 
> Anyway, thank you for the overwhelming amount of positive reviews! It gave me some extra, much needed confidence to continue the story. I hope that the story will continue to remain worthy of such reviews in the future. I’ll do my utmost best to make this fanfic as epic and Rayllum as possible!


	7. A new path

The knock on his door surprised Callum. He was just about to go to bed. It had been late when the dragonguard appointed a new, more hospitable room to him, and the next day would yet again prove to be a long one yet again so all Callum wanted was to get a decent night's rest. Elarion was a three day trip from here, though Callum hoped to cut that time in half using his magewing spell. 

Sighing, he straightened his underclothes to be a bit more representable and opened the door slightly. 

“H-hey!” Rayla stood there awkwardly, looking at him through the crack of the door. 

“Oh, hi!” He opened the door a little wider, though he was very self conscious about his corrupted form and how much was visible now he was just wearing a sleeveless shirt for the night. “I didn’t think you’d visit.” 

She blinked in surprise. “You didn’t?” 

“Well, it seemed like you wanted to take things slow so you could think about stuff and I figured I wouldn’t go look for you cause you needed some space and...I’m rambling.” He smiled awkwardly at her, a smile she returned.

“Well… I do want to take things one step at a time… Can I come in?”

“Oh sure!” He opened the door, though quickly closed it again, as he didn’t fancy any of the other guards seeing him in his undergarments.

The room was dark and a bit cold. Rayla lit the luneflame. The magical candle lit the room with a soft, bluish light. It made Callum seem even more alien. She swallowed, unsure of herself. “So...how are you feelin’?”

“I’m good, I guess…And you?” 

She shrugged. “I’m just glad that they didn’t lock you up. Though I still think it’s stupid that you have to do that quest before they can ‘officially’ forgive you.”

Callum sat back on the bed and made himself comfortable. “I don’t mind. I don’t think I’ve told you yet, but the Sunforge is the thing that can cure my corruption.”

“Really?” Rayla seemed very happy at that prospect.

Callum gave a rueful smile. “I’m that hideous right now?” he joked, trying to make light of it. 

“Well, I don’t think grey hair and grey skin suits you.” she said, walking closer to him. Callum’s heart skipped a beat as her hand went through his hair. “Though a bit of grey might look quite dashin’ on you when you’re older.”

“Well, one can only hope.” He looked around, searching for a topic of conversation. “So...you wanted to talk, or…?”

“Oh! Actually, I wanted to go to bed.” When she saw Callum’s questioning look, she added, “You’re in my room you know.” 

“I am?” He looked around, but couldn’t see any of her belongings. Last time he was here, she had decorated her room with his pictures. “So where’s your stuff?” 

“Most of it is back at the camp, near your capital city. The other stuff… I put away.” She said, turning away from him and getting a spare nightgown. 

“I see…” He was disappointed that she had stowed away his pictures, but he wasn’t surprised, given what had happened. 

She turned her head and smiled at him. “Don’t worry. I’ll put them up again. Now, would you mind turnin’ around for a second?”

Callum’s eyes widened and he blushed heavily at the request. “Yeah! Sure, no problem! I’m turning around, right now!” he quickly said as he kept staring at the nightgown she was holding. When his eyes went up to Rayla’s, he saw her raise an eyebrow as she waited for him to actually turn around. “Right!” He quickly twisted where he sat and stared at the stone wall in front of him. He could hear her snicker, followed by the rustling of clothing and various items being dropped to the floor. “So why did they put me in your room?”

She didn’t answer at first. Her naked footsteps on the floor sent chills through Rayla as she got rid of her armour and boots. _It’s chilly in here!_ She undid her wrappings with a sigh of relief and got into her nightgown. All covered up now, she turned around. She smiled as she saw him just staring at the wall in front of him. Part of him had wondered if Callum would have peeked at her, but he was too much of a good boy to violate her privacy like that. She again felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach, despite his current appearance. _I’ll just have to get used to it I guess…_

She walked over towards him and sat on the bed next to him, causing him to turn towards her. Her eyes seemed larger than normal, the shadows playing tricks with her beautiful face. “Cause I asked them to.”

Callum looked at her. He struggled to remember when he had seen her so casual. The nightgown looked to be made of simple linen, but it had ruffles around her neck and on the sleeves, making the simple garment look quite pretty on her. Her hair was longer than when they first met, now almost reaching past her shoulders. Yet despite it all, in this moment, in the soft light of the luneflame, she looked like a goddess. “You look beautiful.” he mutters, almost without consciously meaning to. He started blushing as soon as he said it, bringing some life to his grey cheeks.

“You think so?” She stifled a giggle, breaking the spell. She smiled at him and touched his hand. 

The gesture sent jolts through his body. He smiles broadly, though through it all, he notices a bit of hesitation on her part. “Rayla? Do you really want to be here? I thought you said you needed space.” 

She looked away for a bit, though she didn’t take away her hand. “I do...and I don’t. Thing is, seein’ you and your brother hug, without him bein’ weirded out by it… it made me realise I need to be stronger.” 

Callum was quick to interrupt her. “Rayla, you’re the strongest person I know!”

She put a finger to his broken lips, smiling sadly. “I knew you would say that, but your brother was stronger back there. I want to be just as strong.” She scooted a little closer, trying to maintain eye contact despite her own nervousness. “Can I sleep next to you tonight?”

He swallowed. “Eh...i-is that allowed?”

“No, it’s not.” She smiled nonetheless.

Callum didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say and he figured that if he said anything at all, it would just sound awkward, which was usually the case in these situations. So instead, he scooted over and clumsily pulled open the blanket enough for the two of them to get in. She scooted in beside him. The bed was a carved space in the stone wall and thus wasn’t very wide, but neither of the lovers paid any mind to it. 

Rayla turned on her side and settled next to him. With her hand she caressed his arms and face. His skin felt dry and he smelled funny, but he was still warm to the touch. 

“Rayla…” 

_Gods, he sounds nervous…_ she thought as she let her hands roam over his shirt. Suddenly, a memory popped in her head and her mood changed. “...did it hurt?” 

Callum was confused. One moment they were cuddling very intimately, and now she looked like something was bothering her. He couldn’t make heads or tails of it. “What do you mean?”

She swallowed. “Did it hurt when I- when I…” she couldn’t bring herself to say it. 

“You mean…” he gently touched the place where her blades had pierced his chest and looked at her questioningly. She swallowed again and nodded. 

He tried to think back to that moment and was silent as he caressed her shoulder, trying to sooth her. “I don't remember the pain, but I do remember feeling relieved, like, feeling all the thoughts and feelings that were dragging me down being stripped away.” He inched closer, his eyes meeting hers. _Her eyes are so big...like the moon…_ “It felt like...like I was floating to a better place…” 

“I’m glad you came back…” In the soft light of the candle, most of his features were hard to see, and Rayla could imagine him being like used to be. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

“So am I…” he closed the distance and pushed his lips to hers. 

She closed her eyes as his lips hit hers. She found that despite his corrupted appearance, he still tasted the same. She shivered as his hands stroked her back, inching lower and lower. “Oh Callum…”

“Hey guys!” The door flung open and light flooded the room. Rayla and Callum immediately jolted up, causing one of Rayla’s horns to nick Callum across the cheek.

“Auch”

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” Rayla practically jumped out of bed to fetch a handkerchief to stop the bleeding of Callum’s cheek, hoping that in her shift movements, Ezran wouldn’t notice her beatred face. 

“Ezz, what are you doing here?” Callum rubbed his cheek with his thumb and put it in his mouth, sucking the blood off it.

Ezz eyes darted between him and Rayla. “Uuhhh, well, I haven’t seen you in a while, so I thought we could have a sleepover? Like we used to?” 

Callum groaned inwardly as he looked at the puppy eyes Ezran gave him. _Of course he has to ask me this just as we….urgh, nevermind._ Callum shook his head to get the cobwebs and butterflies out of there as Rayla sat down next to him. His eyes met hers as she dapped the cloth on his cheek. “Do you mind?” he whispered to her.

She sighed deeply. “I guess not…”

Callum smiled at Ezran. “Alright buddy. You can have the other bed.”

Ezran’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh! I thought I would sleep with you.”

Now Callum did groan as Rayla had to stifle a laugh. “Ezz, we’re not children anymore!”

“I know, I just... Being a king is hard you know! I haven’t got to play in ages!”

Rayla bit her lip. She felt she was being selfish for wanting to keep him all for herself. “Callum… I think you should spend some time with your little brother.”

This shocked Callum. “But...I thought….”

“Woah, woah!” Ezran put up his hands, trying to stop their conversation. “I don’t want to come between the two of you! I just thought that, you know, we could camp together, like we used to? Maybe make a pillowfort or something!”

Callum and Rayla looked at each other, smiling slightly. “That sounds like fun.” Rayla said, trying to convince Callum to go along with it.

Seeing no option to refuse (and having lost the will to do so), Callum stood up from the bed and took a dramatic pose. “Alright men! Tonight, we built a fort!” He pointed at Rayla. “You! I name you the official pillow gatherer! Gather as many pillows as you can!”

She laughed. “Your will be done, your fluffiness!” she bowed mockingly and left the room. 

With Rayla gone, he turned to his brother. “Alright Ezz, we’re going to need some sticks to hold up the blankets. Got any ideas?” 

Ezzran thought for a bit. “I think I saw a couple of spears in the hall… but I have no idea if we’re allowed to use them.” 

Callum just smiled at his little brother and put a hand on his shoulder. “Then let’s find out!”

His brother’s enthusiasm made Ezran laugh. _He may look a bit different, but on the inside, that’s definitely Callum!_

After a short, fun gathering frenzy that startled the various elves in the Spire, they managed to build quite the cozy pillowfort. The three of them lay next to each other. Rayla lay next to Callum, hugging his arm and nuzzling his shoulder. He had his arm around Ezran who lay on the other side, looking content and staring up towards the azure blanket that shone with soft, blue light as the lunecandles behind it burned like strange, little stars. 

“Just like old times, huh?” Ezran said, suppressing a yawn. 

Callum grinned. Everything felt as it should be. He felt an overwhelming sense of happiness. Despite his corruption, despite what happened when he was charmed by Claudia, the two people in this world who mattered most to him still accepted him as he was. “Yeah buddy, just like old times.”

A slight snore startled Callum. As he looked to his left, he found that Rayla had already fallen asleep. He sighed. _This night took a wild turn!_ Though he had felt a bit miffed that Ezran had spoiled their moment, he had to admit he hadn’t felt so happy in a long time. _It’s something worth fighting for,_ he thought as his eyes drooped. _Rayla, Ezran, I’ll fight for you. I will make sure we can all live in a peaceful world. You have my word..._

-/-/-/-

The next morning the trio were woken by a very worried Corvus, who apparently wasn’t informed of Ezran’s plan to sleep somewhere else. “My liege, how can I protect you if you run off like that!?” 

“I’m safe here Corvus.” Ezran said, looking none too concerned. “Rayla is with the dragonguards, so they won’t hurt me as long as she’s my friend.” 

“Well, it also helps that you talked to the queen yesterday.” Rayla added.

“Yes, well, that is the same queen that tried to have you killed two years ago!” Corvus crossed his arms not willing to let it go.

Rayla put her hands on her hips, looking angry. “Hey! We went over this! She apologized for that!” 

“Guys, guys!” Callum stood between them. “Nothing happened, alright? Ezran’s safe, let’s just go out and get on with our quest. I’m sure there are plenty of things out there that actually want to kill us!”

“Yay! More adventure!” Ezran said happily as he grabbed one of the spears, holding up the roof of the pillowfort. As soon as he yanked it out, the fort collapsed. He smiled goofily back at the group. “Oops.” 

Corvus just gave up at this point. “Let’s go to the queen. I’m sure she’s waiting for us.” As he stomped off, the others laughed and followed him. 

When the small group entered the great hall, they saw that the queen was not alone. She was in conversation with Esoriél, while Catlyn was listening to another elf Corvus and Ezran hadn’t seen before. However, Callum and Rayla recognized her immediately. 

“Nyx!? What are you doing here!?” Rayla exclaimed. 

The red-winged, blue-haired skywing elf turned around and smiled as the grouped approached, her bi-colored eyes twinkling with mischief. “Oh, heya guys! Fancy meeting you here!”

“Well of course _we_ are here! But why are _you_ here!?” Rayla retorted as she pointed at the elf.

Nyx just looked at the finger, wondering if it might do something, then smiled. “Aww, come now. We’re mates! We go way back ya?” Nyx scanned the group, and her eyes widened as she spotted Callum. “Oh boy, is that the same human you were smooching on the back of my ambler!? My, what happened to you!?” Nyx stepped towards Callum and grabbed his hand, pulling it roughly towards her. She studied his grey, cracked skin with interest. “Did you eat too many moonberries or something?” 

“Ah, yeah, something like that.” Callum tried to get his hand back, but it took some pulling before Nyx would finally let go of it. 

Rayla stepped between Nyx and her boyfriend, feeling protective. Nyx smiled slyly at that. “Ah, so you _are_ together! How nice, a human and an elf! Do you think your little ones will have horns or an extra finger?”

“Eeeeh…!” Callum was now thoroughly shaken and looked at Rayla for help.

She, on the other hand, was fuming. “Ya still haven’t told us what ye’re doin’ here!” 

“Why, I’m here on a job! Her majesty sent word for a guide into the Uncharted Forest, and who better to guide a small group of...humans, I guess? Well, anyway, who better than me, am I right?” She gave them a broad smile and used both her thumbs to point at herself for emphasis. 

Callum rubbed his eyes. “Right...and what about that time you kidnapped Zym in the Midnight Desert?”

“That was a complete misunderstanding of circumstance!” She quickly said, her eyes flicking towards the dragonqueen, who was watching the exchange take place while also listening to Esoriél. “I merely tried to get the little dragon to his mother faster… and maybe claim a bit of the reward for myself.” She added the latter part quietly. “But hey! I learned my lesson! You caught me, I helped you, we’re all square, right?”

Callum gave her a look that told her exactly what he thought about that, before turning his attention to Ezran and Corvus. “Be careful. I don’t doubt that she’s a good guide. She did help us across the oasis. But she might have...other priorities.” 

“That’s right! I’m in it for the money!” 

Rayla had enough. She stepped towards Nyx and jabbed Nyx’ chest with her finger, causing her to recoil. “Listen up. If anythin’ happens to these humans, I will hunt you down, kill you, slice you into little pieces and kick you off the Storm Spire.” 

Nyx laughed nervously and tried to shrug it off, but had trouble doing so and she visibly shrinked under Rayla’s gaze. She put up her hands and took a step back.“Hahaha you’re not kidding… Alright! Alright, I’ll take care of them. Word of honor!” 

The queen grumbled, attracting everyone’s attention. “Well, it seems that you have acquainted yourself. Or reacquainted I should say. Are you all ready to begin your quest?”

The group looked amongst themselves uncertainly. “I guess.” Ezran said, stepping forward. “But where do we start?”

“To that, I may have some answers.” The startouch elf said, approaching the group. He drew a rune in the air and a map of Xadia appeared in their mind. Almost everyone in the group was shocked by the sudden intrusion. Only Callum was not completely stricken by the display of magic. Instead, he was curious about the magic behind the spell. The map showed the Storm Spire and the lands to the east; a large, green forest in between two mountain ranges. “Rex Ignious has been known to prowl the Drakewood if he’s awake, but if he’s asleep, he will most likely rest near Umber Tor, the home to the earthblood elves. Look for a cave with warm winds. That is where you will find him.” 

“A cave with warm winds?” Corvus replied. “Can’t you be a little more specific?” 

But Esoriél shrugged. “The stars only tell me what they want me to know. It has been seventy years since Rex Ignious was last seen in Xadia. When he rests, he does not want to be found.” 

Corvus still had his misgivings about this whole ordeal? “Alright, lets say we find this dragon. What do we do next?”

This time, the queen spoke up. “Well, you will have to persuade him to come meet with me as soon as possible.” She sighed. “Of all the dragons, Rex Ignious is perhaps the most stubborn one of all. Persuading him is going to be difficult.” 

Ezran looked troubled. “I mean, Aureum Umbra was already hard to deal with… Isn’t there anything that can help us? Maybe he likes gifts? Presents?” 

“Hmmmm, there might be something.” The queen leaned down towards Ezran, her giant head still looming over the group. “I heard he is very fond of exotic food. Perhaps you can make something special for him.” 

Corvus grinned. “Leave that to me! There is no better hunter or tracker in these lands.”

“We’ll see about that…” Nyx muttered as a reply, but Ezran was the only one who heard it, and he just rolled his eyes. 

Callum raised a hand. “What about the È’No..È’nokz...that green crystal you want me to get?” He had a photogenic memory. Memorizing words on the other hand, not so much.

The startouch elf laughed as Callum struggled with the word. “The È’Nots Reverof, or everlasting stone of purity, can be found in Elarion.”

“Yes, I know, you’ve told me. But where in Elarion? I mean, it’s a big ruin right now, right?” Callum had never been to Elarion of course, but he remembered one tapestry back in Katolis. It displayed a huge sprawling city next to a river; a relic of a bygone age.

“That I cannot say. You will have to scour the ruins for Aaravos’ old hideout. I’m sure though that you are up to the task.”

Callum and Rayla looked at each other. In the soft light of the cave, Callum still looked somewhat horrible, his grey skin fading in with the stone background, making him seem lifeless. _But his eyes are real!_ Rayla thought. She smiled at him, and he returned her smile in the same way. “So, are you ready for another adventure?” 

Callum grasped her hand. “With you? Always.”

The queen rose up to her full height, looking down on the group. “Well then, adventurers, go with my blessing. I hope you will succeed, and complete your task swiftly. Zeron has delayed the king, but king Aureum Umbra will grow impatient soon. Be quick, be careful, and may the arcanums favor you.”

As they walked out of the hall, the group separated briefly. Rayla and Nyx both went to the storeroom to gather supplies, though Rayla gave Nyx suspicious glances all the way there. Ezran and Callum took this opportunity to speak of what came next. 

“Be careful little brother. It’s dangerous out there.” Callum put a hand on his shoulder, looking worried.

Ezran laughed it off. “Don’t worry. I got Corvus with me, and I can communicate with the animals! I’m sure everything will be fine.” When Callum didn’t look convinced, he hugged his brother. “It will be Callum. I really believe it.”

Callum just sighed and hugged him back. “Once this is all over, you and me are going to spend some proper brother time together. Fishing, playing in the mud, that stuff.” 

“Yeah, sounds like fun! Oh, by the way! Rayla told me you can talk to people in dreams?”

His big brother blinked at the sudden change of topic. “Euh, yeah… not every night, but I could?” 

“Can you talk to Opeli for me? Tell her that we’ve arrived safely, and that we’re going to find another dragon!” 

“Yes, that will definitely put her mind at ease.” Corvus muttered.

The doubtful look Callum gave his brother wasn’t very comforting. “I mean, I’ll try, but I haven’t contacted anyone but Rayla. I’m not sure I’m able to.” 

His little brother shrugged. “Well, it’s just a thought. She must be worried.” 

A female voice called out. “Alright! I think we’re all set!” Callum turned around just in time to catch the bag that Rayla had flung to him. 

“Oof!” Callum caught the bag in his stomach. It felt heavy. “What’s in this?” 

“Oh, the usual, rations, a survival kit and a sleeping bag.” She stepped close to him, then added in a whisper. “ _One_ sleeping bag.” The blush Callum got made him seem almost human again. It was an achievement Rayla was proud of.

Ezran and Corvus looked at the display with raised eyebrows just as Nyx joined them with their bags. “Are we sure we should let the two of them go off without supervision?” Corvus asked to no one in particular. He felt the need to chaperone the two from doing anything stupid, but he was tied to the king, and explaining to the king why leaving the two unsupervised was a bad idea wasn’t a conversation he was ready to have just yet.

“There’s no stopping love, soldierboy.” Nyx said playfully with a wink. “Come on! It’s still early, and with my Ambler we can still get quite far!” 

The group huddled together. Callum, Ezran and Rayla exchanged hugs, while politely shaking Corvus’ and Nyx’s hand. 

“Well, that’s it then.” Ezran said with a smile. “Next time we’ll see each other, there will be peace.”

Everyone had to smile at his optimism. “Let’s hope so. I’m well overdue for some time off.” Rayla said as she stretched. She turned to Callum and put her hands around his neck loosely. “Well? Shall we be off?”

Callum nodded and was about to cast his magewing spell when he saw Esoriél standing in the archway, watching the group. Suddenly, a strange voice filled his head, and it took Callum a moment to realize Esoriél was speaking to him through his mind. _“Keep the key close Callum. You will need it to open the gate. Do not let go of it, ever.”_

Rayla looked a bit puzzled at Callum’s blank face. “Callum? We goin’ or what?”

“Oh! Eh, right!” He shook his head, trying to get his focus back. “Manus-pluma-volantus!” The wings appeared, though they had a grey quality to them this time, also a possible effect of the corruption. Still, Rayla held on to his neck in earnest, wrapping a leg around his as Callum took off.

“Bye! Goodluck!” Callum was enthusiastically waving as Bait croaked his own farewell from the bag. 

“Goodluck prince Callum!” Corvus added, holding up a hand.

Nyx blinked. “So he’s really a prince huh? Well, it seems I can’t get around meeting royalty!”

Corvus coughed as the group started to walk to the stairs. “King Ezran is the king of Katolis. Please be respectful when addressing him.”

“Corvus…” Ezran whined, getting tired of such protocols quickly.

Nyx was unperturbed by Corvus’ comment. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be nice to the little one. After all, he’s the cutest king I’ve ever seen!” 

Corvus just sighed and followed the skywing elf down the stairs, keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings. 

Esoriél stared at the two groups, one descending the mountain, the other disappearing in the sky. “And so the wheel of fate turns…” He tried not to let it show, but he felt sad about the young adventurers. _What horrors they will face, one can only imagine… Fate is certainly not kind to them… But it is necessary nonetheless._ Trying to ignore the guilt for setting them upon this path, the startouch elf turned around and walked inside, hoping to find some solace in his sleep. 

-/-/-/-

“I thought you said you knew where it was!” Claudia complained as they walked along the mountainside., searching for any kind of entrance. 

“I did. It has to be close, but time has changed this area so much…” The strange buglike creature turned his head continuously this way and that, trying to find it’s former home. “The trees were different then, and so was the river. Even the mountain seemed to have changed,” he said, looking at various collections of large boulders that now decorated the slope. 

“We’ve been searching for two whole days Aaravos! Don’t you have a spell for this?” Claudia was getting immensely frustrated with the situation. _We’re wasting time! I don’t know how long the army can keep up the offence without my leadership!_

“I have warded my sanctum against such magics. I would never have thought that I would not be able to find my way home.” As he said this, he moved towards a boulder and drew an earth rune. The boulder suddenly shifted and rolled down the slope. “But, this seems familiar.” 

Both Claudia and Aaravos crouched down to where the boulder was. With the boulder gone, they could see some kind of stone pathway. “The boulder must have been sitting on that for years!” Claudia exclaimed.

“Hundreds of years. I would think that the dragons had a hand in wrecking the valley after my imprisonment, to make sure no one else would find it.”

“Pffft, well, they wouldn’t be able to anyway. You said it yourself. You made the place unfindable.”

“That’s not entirely true. I did leave a key with someone. It was enchanted in such a way that it would always slide in the direction of my sanctum, so that she could always find it.”

“A-ha! So there was an elf-girl!”

“....regardless, I do not know where the key is now.”

Claudia tapped her chin. “Huh...well, if it’s a key, don’t we need it to open the sanctum?”

The bug creature just kept walking, not turning as it spoke. “That depends.” 

“On what?”

“On whether I locked the door behind me when I left for the last time.”

She stopped walking, looking puzzled at the bug creature. “You don’t remember?”

Aaravos paused before answering. “I was somewhat preoccupied with dragons chasing after me…”

“Oh…”

They walked on in silence with Aaravos occasionally shifting the stones in front of them, revealing more of the path. 

“Does this path lead towards your sanctum?” 

“No, but there should be a special marking somewhere up ahead. We’re nearly high enough up the slope I think. If we head straight east from that marking, we will arrive at the entrance.” He drew another rune and the earth shifted away, revealing more of the stone path. Aaravos gasped. “There…”

Claudai blinked. The stone path seemed to be just that; a stone path. But as she looked closer, she started to notice some differences. A square foot of the path had some discoloration. It was hard to see, as it had been covered with grime and dirt for hundreds of years, but as she kneeled down she noticed that these stones seemed to be made of different materials entirely. “Basalt? And between the stones...pieces of obsidian?”

“That is correct. This is it. If we head east, we should find it. Let’s go!” The bug creature skittered on ahead, looking eerily excited. 

Claudia shivered and ran after him. They sprinted for fifteen minutes before they reached a cave entrance. It was small, with half of the entrance hidden by plantlife. Claudia saw the excitement on Aaravos’ mutated face. _Ew, creepy!_

“This is it! We are here!” He said, moving the plants aside with his claw.

“Well of course we’re here! Where else would we be?” 

Aaravos was too caught up in the moment to respond, but his excitement soon turned to despair. Pulling away the foliage revealed a large, circular oaken door.. It was elaborately carved, with patterns of leaves and animals whirling around the centre. In the centre was a cube-shaped hole, turned sideways so that the corners pointed straight up and down. 

“Faex…” 

“Faex? That’s not a draconic word I’ve heard before.”

“It’s not something you want to say in polite company. Look;” And he pointed towards the door. “It is closed, and the key is nowhere in sight.”

“Can’t we just open the door somehow?”

“I’ve spent years putting up magic defences around this place to keep thieves from doing exactly that!” He roared. “It will take at least as long to tear them all down again.”

“Alright alright, lets calm down… This key, where did you last see it?”

Aaravos closed his eyes, an expression of anger and pain across his face. For a moment, Claudia thought that the frustration of the situation had become too much for the enchanted creature, but then he opened his eyes again and spoke. “I last saw the key as I passed it along to a human girl, as she fled across the border when Xadia ousted the humans.”

“What? Just like that? You gave it to a random human girl?!”

“Could you focus!? The key is gone, yet we are so close to our goal! It’s right behind this door!”

“Right, right, okay…” She thought for a bit. _A key...where do we get a key?_ She approached the door and studied it for a moment. The detail work on the door was amazing, but apart from the cube-shaped shallow indent, she couldn’t see any hole to put a key in, nor could she spot a handle of any kind. “So, what kind of key is it?”

Aaravos sighed. “I created a small device in the past that could detect the arcanum of whatever it was close to. It was a small cube with the sigels of all the arcanums on it. I put a spell on it so that it could be used to open this door.” Aaravos stared out into the valley. “I wonder what became of h-it.”

Claudia ignored his slip, thinking hard. _A cube… a cube with sigels…. Why does that sound familiar?_ Then her mind snapped back to the stuff they brought back from the raid on the Storm Spire. _His sketchbook, a sealed scroll, and a cube!_ “Callum has the cube!” Claudia exclaimed.

Aaravos whipped around. “What!?”

But Claudia was pacing in front of the door. “He had the cube this whole time! A-and even when he didn’t have it, he knew of it! He must have known that thing belonged to you Aaravos!” She turned to him, looking thoroughly confused. “I don’t understand! Why didn’t he say something!? He had that damn thing on his person the entire time!” 

Aaravos rubbed his eyes with his claw. “I do… the spell you cast… it takes away their free will. They will do as you ask them to and think of ways to complete the task, nothing else. It would never have occurred to him that I might be in need of my key, even if he knew it was connected to me, so he didn’t mention it. Such are the limitations of that spell.”

“So… what now?” 

“We have to find him and retrieve the key.”

“No. No no no no NO! I’m not going all the way back!” She grabbed her component pouch. 

Aaravos looked at her, confused. “What are you doing?”

“I am going to use some dark magic to send a message. We’ve got agents tracking Callum. I’m sure they would be happy to retrieve that cube for us.” She grabbed the dried head of a dead bird and clenched, crunching its skull. As her eyes lit up with a purplish glow, she saw Aaravos grinning at her. 

“My, you really are resourceful.”

Claudia grinned back. “Eciov tnatsid!” After the echo in her voice receded, she spoke her message. “Listen up! Callum has something of utmost importance! A cube with draconic runes on it! We need it in Elarion! Bring it to us!” She waited for a bit and then heard a faint reply in her mind. “Your will be done, mistress.”

She smiled as the glow subsided. Aaravos looked at her, smiling himself “Well done. Now let's hope those little munchkins of yours don’t mess this up.”

“I’m sure they won’t,” she said. Inwardly, she was a bit worried. _I’m sorry Callum, but I think capturing you will have to wait. Just give us the cube. I’ll come back and make you mine later._

-/-/-/-

The birds called out through the open window, as well as the shouts of guards announcing the change of the guard. Opeli woke and sat in bed, rubbing her eyes. Normally, she would get up and about straight away, but this time, she stayed in the bed for a while, looking out of the window. “Well...that was….interesting.”

Having collected her thoughts, Opeli got out of bed and asked an attendant to assemble the council for an emergency session, then quickly got dressed, ready for an early start of what would prove to be a very interesting day. 

Only minutes had passed before Opeli, Amaya, Gren and Soren had all assembled in the attic of one of the towers. Normally they would use the throne room for this, but with the siege still ongoing, it had been turned into a semi-permanent barrack for the people of Katolis.

“Good Morning counselor.” Gren said, translating for Amaya. “To what do we owe this early pleasure?” Both Amaya and Gren looked a little grumpy. They were at the tail end of a double shift and were eager to get some sleep.

“I apologize for the sudden intrusion in our daily rhythm. However, I have some news to share.” She glanced across the group. 

“Eh, sorry, is there a reason I’m here?” Sorren said, yawning. He would be the one to take over Amaya’s duties while she slept. “I’m not part of this council thingy.”

Opeli smiled at the simpleminded but extremely talented swordsman. “It concerns your king, and his brother. Within the castle walls, we are the only ones who know that the king is not ill, but in fact has embarked on a secret mission with Corvus to reach the Storm Spire and try to end this war.” She hesitated. “I… am fully aware of how strange this will sound, but Callum has contacted me through a dream.” 

This surprised everyone. “A dream? About Callum?” Gren said, laying his voice with the same doubt general Amaya was expressing. 

“ _From_ Callum actually. He is...alive!”

A gasp went through the room. Everyone seemed surprised by the news. “How can this be?” Gren exclaimed, with Amaya hastily signing something similar.

“I- that’s a long story. Apparently, the dark mage robbed him of his free will. That was why he attacked the Storm Spire. In any case, he relayed the following. He and his brother are doing well. King Ezran has reached the dragon queen, and is now on a mission to East-Xadia to find a replacement for king Aureum Umbra, so that the war will be ended. Prince Callum will travel to the ruins of Elarion in search of an object that can help the sunfire elves as a gift to placate them.” 

“Wait, the king is going where!? Isn’t that dude with the dreads still with him?” Soren shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn’t like the idea of the king going anywhere unguarded. Having to stay here and not being able to protect Ezran right now was a big concession he had to make.

Opeli made some placating gestures. “Rest assured, the king is still under the watchful eye of Corvus, and they seem to have a Xadian guide with them as well.”

“What about prince Callum?” Gren translated for the general.

“He seems to be under the guard of one of the dragonguards.”

Amaya signed something, which made Gren snicker. “It’s probably the white-haired one. They have a ‘thing’.” 

Opeli rubbed her eyes. “Heaven forbid our prince finds himself entangled with a moonshadow elf assassin… but I can’t say that I haven’t heard the rumors.” After the nobility of Duren had seen how Callum had acted while he was with Rayla, it had been general knowledge that Callum might have found himself a girlfriend, though the crown did not confirm or deny such rumours. Opeli remembered asking Callum about it in her letters to the Aero Temple, but she only got vague replies. “Regardless, both are safe and are working to restore peace.”

Soren leaned back, still skeptical. “But are we absolutely sure this was a dream that Callum gave you? I mean, sounds like weird magic to me! Couldn’t it be anyone else trying to bewitch you?”

“Well, I was able to talk normally to him and he could answer my questions. Also, the entire dream took place in a sketchbook.”

The group laughed at that. “Yes, definitely him.” 

“If that is all, then we will be off.” Gren said as Amaya signed her message. “We still have a lot of work if we want to keep the elves at bay.” 

Opeli smiled. “Katolis thanks you for your service general. Sleep well.”

“Alright, no worries! I’ll take over that guarding duty thing.” Soren patted Amaya on the back as he walked out with her.

As soon as they were in the hallway, Amaya signed to Gren. - Go on ahead. I need to do a thing-. 

“A thing?” Gren looked confused, but he trusted her implicitly, so he just shrugged. “Okay, well, goodluck and-” He yawned. “See you in a bit!” 

They waved at each other and walked opposite directions. General Amaya smiled, her heart pounding a little quicker as she thought of what the last few minutes of her watch could bring. _The information she gave me a few days ago made sure that no Xadian spies managed to scale the walls during the night time. I’m curious to what she will tell me tonight._ She blushed faintly as she found herself hoping that it would not all be business. _I’m sure the council would not approve of my meetings with my xadian counterpart… but, well, if the king can keep secrets, then so can I!_

-/-/-/-

“So, did you dream of me?” Rayla asked the question with a twinkle in her eye, already knowing the answer but loving to tease her boyfriend about it. 

Callum cringed. “Sadly, I had to dream of my teacher.” 

Rayla feinted innocence. “Your teacher? Have you dreamt about her before?” 

“Will you cut it out?” He groaned. While Callum had his own fantasies and imaginations, councilor Opeli was certainly not part of them. _Expect perhaps that fantasy where I was going to marry Claudia._ He blinked, struggling to remember how long ago he had to give up on that dream. 

“Callum, are you in there?” Rayla knocked him on the head softly as she walked closer beside him. They had been flying for most of the day, and had now taken to walking to give Callum’s arms some rest. _We need to set up camp soon,_ she thought.

Callum pushed her hand away, giving her a half-grin. “I’ll ignore your attitude for now. Anyway, I think Opeli got the message. The siege seems to be holding pretty well, which is no surprise considering king Aureum Umbra has stopped his attacks.”

Rayla nodded, her thoughts going along the same lines. Again, she edged closer to him, her breath on his ear. “So, tonight you’ll dream of me?”

A red color spread along Callum’s grey cheeks. “Eeeh… You know I can’t use the dreamspell if the other is awake and keeping watch, right?” He turned to look at her, and blushed even more when he saw her face. _Were her pupils always that big?_

“That’s not what I asked.” she whispered to him.

He stopped in his tracks. “O-of course I’ll dream of you! I mean, I’ll try at least…” 

She beamed a smile at him, causing his heart to skip a beat. “That’s what I wanted to hear.” And with that, she pecked him on the cheek and took a few big strides forwards, causing Callum to almost involuntarily stumble forward in an effort to keep up.

After some more walking they made camp. They played boulder-parchment-shears for who took the first watch. Rayla lost and sat beside the fire, while Callum made ready for bed. 

“Tired, angel boy?” 

“Angel boy? Look who’s talking, moon peach.”

Rayla snickered. They still liked to play the nickname game. It was a fun way to pass the time. “Well, I could call you my fluffy chicken instead…”

“Don’t you dare!” He replied as he finished laying down his bedroll and dragged it closer to where Rayla sat. “If you do, I’ll call you my ivory goat.” 

Her grin immediately faded, replaced by a somewhat annoyed expression. “A goat? Really Callum? Yer comparin’ me to a goat?”

“Well, if you compare me to a chicken…” he replied, still sounding playful. He got into his bedroll and scooted closer, putting his head in her lap. Almost automatically, her hands went through his hair. He grunted in approval and closed his eyes. “This isn’t so bad…”

That caused Rayla to smile again. “No, it isn’t…” They were once again on a mission that would hopefully save a lot of people. It felt like it was an impossible task really. _But when has that ever stopped us?_ As she stroked Callum’s hair and looked at his corrupted face, his eyes closed, she was surprised by the surge of love she felt at that moment. _It doesn’t matter how you look, you’re still my Callum._

The breaking of a branch snapped her out of her contemplative moment. She didn’t react, not wanting to give away that she was aware of figures closing in on her. Instead, she slowly grabbed a single hair of Callum and pulled on it, softly but repeatedly. 

It wasn’t a nice feeling. Callum opened his eyes and gave her a questioning look, but as he noticed her expression, he knew that something was up. 

They both waited in silence. Rayla was acutely aware that they were being watched. Her senses, heightened through years of training, told her that there were at least two of them. She heard the sound of the two figures creeping closer behind him. 

The tensing of the leg muscles and the narrowing of her eyes told Callum all he needed to know. _Get ready,_ they seemed to say. Callum gave a small nod and was already loosening the bedroll a bit, making sure he was able to get out quickly. 

The sound of more greenery shifting told Rayla they were now within leaping distance. She pushed herself to her feat and leaped backwards, somersaulting through the air. Callum had anticipated her movement and moved out of the way, sitting up so that he had a visual on what was happening. While Rayla was still in the air, he drew the rune and shouted “Aspiro!” . A strong gust blew through the darkness, making two shadowy figures stumble and fall backwards. 

Rayla used her airtime to get her swords out and landed in front of them. One figure held up a hand, a strange purple glow surrounding it as he started to cast a dark magic spell, but Rayla quickly slashed him across the hand. The spell fizzled as the woman yelped, quickly retracting her hand. 

The area around them lit up as Callum walked up next to Rayla, his hand crackling with lightning from a yet unfinished Fulminis spell. As he got closer, the light of the crackling spell revealed a man and a woman, both dressed in True Light garb, the monklike robes covering most of their form as the dark cowls obscuring part of their face. 

“Who are you? Why are you followin’ us?” Rayla’s sword was outstretched to both of them, a small drop of blood falling from the tip of the blade, like a warning that she was ready to use them if necessary. 

“We...are travelers?” The man said in a thin, weezy voice.

Callum shook his head. “You are clearly cultmembers. Cut the crap! How did you find us? What do you want?” He outstretched his hand towards the man, the lightning crackling around it intensifying. 

The man recoiled visibly. “H-have mercy, master Callum! W-we don’t mean you any harm!” 

“Mistress Claudia forbade us from harming you! Really, you’ve got to believe us!” The women added. 

Rayla cocked an eyebrow at Callum, but he shook his head. _Later,_ it seemed to say. She returned her focus to the cultists. “Answer his question then. Why are you here!?”

The man and woman looked at eachother, both looking terrified. The man seemed to hesitate, but the woman nodded. “Okay,” the man spoke. “Okay, I’ll talk. Mistress Claudia wanted us to follow you to make sure you weren’t going back to Neolandia,”

“-Or do anything that could harm the True Light!” the woman added quickly.

Callum frowned. _Why would they follow us all the way here though? I’ve been trying to get away from Neolandia for a while now. They should have realized that by now!_ “I don’t believe you.”

The man flinched. “Please! We’re just here to keep an eye on you! Nothing more, I swear!” 

Rayla stepped up. “Well, in that case, you won’t mind if we take your ingredients, do you?” When they hesitated, she stepped closer, putting her blades on their throats. “Hand them over.”

Hesitantly, they both grabbed their pouches and threw them in the dirt. As they did, the woman looked at Callum. “S-so, you’re not going back to Neolandia, master Callum?”

“No!” he snapped. That they still addressed him as ‘master’ annoyed him to no end. “We’re going to Elarion! That’s like, the complete opposite! I’ve been trying to get away from you guys for the past week! Can you guys tell Claudia to just leave me alone!?” 

Rayla gave Callum a warning look as he told the cultists where they were going, but as he did, the cultists seemed to look surprised. They looked at eachother again for a brief moment. 

“So, you’re going to Elarion?” The woman asked, seeking confirmation.

“We might stop there, yeah.” Ralya said, not wanting to make it seem important. “We’ve got stuff to do at places. But that’s none of yer business.” 

“No, we completely understand!” The man said, holding up his hands. “If you’re not going to Neolandia, and you are not doing things that are bad for us, well, then I guess we are done! Aren’t we?” He looked at his companion, who nodded. 

“Yes, we’ll leave you alone! We, you know, just wanted to make sure!” 

Callum and Rayla briefly exchanged glances of their own, weighing on whether they should let their enemies walk way like that. Callum put a hand on Rayla’s blade, pulling it away from the cultists. “We’ll let you go, this time. I want you both to go back west as fast as your feet can carry you. In one hour, I’ll use my tracking spell to see if you’ve listened.”

The man swallowed. “And if we don’t?” 

“Well, you’re members of the True Light. As an ex-member, I don’t really want to hurt you.” A dark look came across Callum as he stepped closer to the cultists, still sitting on the ground. He flexed his wrist, the lightning arcing around his forearm. It lit up his face in irregular intervals, making his corrupted facade seem all the more terrifying. “My elven companion here doesn’t have those limitations. So make sure you hurry.” Rayla swirled her blades for emphasis, approving of his statement. 

The cultists got up and, taking one look at Callum, scurried into the woods, heading west like they’ve been told. 

Once Rayla was sure they were gone, she turned to Callum. “I’m impressed. I have never seen you terrify people like that.”

Callum sighed and shrugged. “I don’t really want to, but I can’t just let them walk either. I don’t want to come back, and believe me, they’re not the type to listen to reason.”

Rayla mused on that briefly, wondering if he would keep doing this if he were back in his castle, ruling his people at his brother’s side. She snapped out of it quickly. _That’s still a long time away…_ One thing bothered her though as she picked up the pouches left by the dark mages. “Are you really goin’ to use dark magic to track them?” 

“Pffft, of course not! But it’ll keep them running for the next hour, and without their components, they will be a lot less dangerous should we have to fight them again.” 

She pulled open the pouch and closed it again quickly. The sight of dead animal parts was enough to turn her a slight shade of green. “Can we burn these? They’re disgusting.”

“No, some of those are actually quite explosive.” Callum seemed pensive, sharing Rayla’s desire to get rid of it but wanting to do it with a bit more grace. “Let’s bury it instead. Seems appropriate, don’t you think?”

She smiled at him. Inside she was thankful that he was considerate of her feelings. After they had disposed of the pouches, they returned to camp. As they walked, Rayla cocked an eyebrow at him. “So, ‘master Callum?’ “

He groaned. “Yeah. They really seem to admire me for some reason.”

Rayla snickered, making light of the situation. “I can understand that. I admire you.” She sighed, thinking back to the encounter. “So Claudia desperately wants you back, huh?”

“Well, too bad for her, cause I’ve already fallen for another.” He smiled broadly as he wrapped his arms around her. This sudden move surprised her, and she laughed. Her laughter sounded through the words until it was suddenly smothered by his kiss. 

Deep in the woods, the peaceful sleep of many critters was disturbed by the ragged breath of the two cultists as they rested, having run for almost an hour straight. 

“Do...do you see…. A tracking spell?” The man weezed as he leaned against a tree. The sight of the elf whirling her blades was enough to keep him running for a long time. He felt exhausted. 

“No...I think it was a bluff.” The woman looked a little more composed, though she too was tired from running. “Well, the bad news is, we don’t have the key. The good news though, is that they are going to Elarion. That’s where the mistress is at.”

“Yes, well, that’s all fine and dandy, but we’re still in deep shit, aren’t we!?” The man replied angrily. “We’re out in the middle of nowhere, we’ve got no magic ingredients… We’re effectively stuck here! How are we going to send a message to mistress Claudia!?” 

The woman turned, a soft smile on her cracked, grey lips. “Oh, you poor man.” She walked closer to him and put a hand on his cheek. The gesture seemed to put the man at ease somewhat. 

He had grown to depend on the woman. _She knows how to get out of this,_ he thought as he smiled a little. 

The woman smiled back at him, though it was a cold smile. “You’ve clearly not been paying attention to master Callums lessons.” The man looked confused and strained to listen as she whispered an incantation. His eyes turned wide and he screamed as suddenly dark purple tendrils stretched through her hand across his face, creeping across his entire body. The man's scream turned into a hollow wail as his lifeless husk hit the ground. 

The woman turned around, holding the man’s life energy in her hand, like a purple, glowing ball. Using his life energy, she cast a sending spell. “Mistress, this is Tira reporting. We failed. Ermond is dead. But I have some good news. They are coming your way. They will arrive in Elarion tomorrow.” 

She closed her eyes and focussed. A reply came shortly after. “Well done! We’ll lay a trap for them! Meet us in Elarion, but make sure they don’t spot you!” Tira smiled. _So we haven’t failed completely. That is good._ She looked around, still holding some of the energy, as the sending spell hadn’t drained all of it. _Well, I better get some food. It’s going to be a long walk._

Dark purple flashes lit the forest as several critters lost their lives at the hands of the hungry dark mage. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here’s the next one! All parties are working towards the finale. I hope that I have the time to wrap up all the storylines without making the next few chapters too long. I know we still have three chapters to go, but still. Behind the scenes I’m already making preparations to print the four novels complete with pictures. Wyta_wolf is going to help me with the art for that one, as I can’t draw for shit I’m affraid ^^;. I know I will never be able to publish these, but it feels good to have finally completed a novel, even if it is fanfiction.
> 
> Storywise, I enjoy writing little slips of Rayllum here and there. Those two are an awkward bunch, but that’s probably the fun of it! Even with the drama going on, I still think there’s time for a little more of that. 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for leaving reviews, kudo’s and likes! It keeps me going, even if the progress is slow these days! Thanks, and let me know what you think of this chapter if you can spare the time!


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